Under this grabbing title the hip Russian online magazine Look at me  published an extensive interview with the Dutch trend forecaster Li Edelkort who was in Moscow for the local Design Week  and  the launch of her exhibition curated for the occasion called Organic Dwelling where she explores how designers and architects of today  fuse the organic and the modern in their work.

 A few images from the exhibition:

The Cow Dung Chair by Karin Frankenstein

MY HOME IS MY EARTH – The use of raw earth as a material will return to the fore after millennia as we channel our Ancient and pre-Historic heritage.’

Rock Sofa by Studio Job

MY HOME IS MY ARMOUR – ‘Seeking safety in an area of continual aggression, the protection provided by armour is a psychological fortification as well as aesthetic design principle.’

Cabbage Chair by Nendo

MY HOME IS MY MASTERPIECE – ‘Our urge for decoration is a time-honoured need with roots in the natural world.’

Li Edelkort is the trend oracle unrivalled in the business of fashion and design. Named one of the 25 most influential persons in fashion by the Time magazine she devines the future providing answers to the basic questions we ask ourselves again and again. What will our lives be? What will we wear? Want? Eat? All based primarily on her intuition. “I don’t discover anything new,” she is quick to point out . “I observe and interpret peoples’ behavior and moods and note down what I see.”

And what she sees is some welcome positive news.

Finally. Don’t we all need that?

Era of individualism has run its course

According to Li Edelkort, the era of individualism has run its course and a new era is dawning. We have come closer together, we tend to work more in groups, we share experiences, we initiate joint projects. In her opinion  that will have a profound effect on governments, businesses, military, police. The traditional pyramid structure of power is about to collapse, which does not mean that the chaos will ensue; rather power will become an edifice with a terrace. Does she mean more participatory democracy by that and the demise of dictators?

Groups as incubators of future talent

Talking about groups she insists that though inside a group an individual will retain his identity. Thus the groups will represent  a natural flow of talents, a most significant trend for the future , Edelkort believes.

Dutch Design

“The Dutch are very good at simple things”, underscores Edelkort. Discussing the international influence of Dutch design Li Edelkort emphasizes the unique nature of Dutch design education where the students spend time on concept research and analysis to understand things first and foremost. Referring to Viktor and Rolf and Iris van Herpen she calls them industry conceptualist. “A beautiful chair or a beautiful dress is just a material representation of their views. What’s important is their mentality”.

West and East, North and South

She has some interesting observations about north and south and geographic DNA of aesthetics. She feels that Western Europeans now gravitate more towards central and eastern Europe with Germany and Austria as current centre , while in the near future it will be the time of Poland, Czech Republic and Russia to shine. Why? Because the West is attracted to the romanticism of the East.

Good taste/ Bad taste

“Art can break your heart, but kitch can make you rich”.

Kitch too can be very interesting. Think pop culture and the works of Jeffry Koons. “People simply like nice things, not necessarily functional or with a purpose. It is not bad taste. It is our emotional need. And nice things appeal to us, make us happy”

This is a concise resume of the interview, for full text click here