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it is important to remember that the architecture and design are social arts par excellence. it is possible to avoid theatre and ballet, never to visit museums or galleries, to spurn poetry and to switch off radio concerts. buildings, settlements and daily tools for living however, form a web of visual impressions that are inescapable.
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ordinary, simple objects of daily use have been until recently always been less aesthetically demanding and less complex, than the productions of fine arts, and more directly satisfying. ever since design and its products became ideologically sacrosanct part of marketing, this has changed in profound ways. unlike paintings or sculpture, design tends to embody social meanings, or serves to make certain social meanings acceptable. we value designed objects for many different reasons, but most are no longer connected with either the use of the object or the original intentions of the designer. the intent of the designer may, in fact be uninteresting or indecipherable to us.
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victor papanek / the green imperative: natural design for the real world, 1995
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