There’s nothing like trying to get a 436-page issue done and meticulously dusted to give
you a full sense of urgency. If not full-on emergency. Especially when a good chunk of those
pages are being guest-edited by Neri Oxman (page 297) and Tomás Saraceno (page 337),
big-brained paradigm-shifters and category-busters both (nominally and respectively,
a designer and an artist, though neither of those definitions will really do). There are clear
resonances. Both trained as architects, both collaborate with scientists and are, to some
extent, committed to creating compelling stories around scientific enquiry. Compelling
and urgent. There is common cause and both address a central question. What is an artist
or designer to do in an age of urgency, or full-on emergency? How do you create – slowly
and thoughtfully, tackling complex ideas – when your first instinct is to stick your head
out of the window and give it the full Peter Finch in Network?
Well, however tangentially, or poetically, you address the issues – waste, pollution,
environmental ravaging, capitalism unbound – and get practical, experiment and engage
with possible solutions. Oxman talks about the Krebs Cycle of Creativity (her nod to
a concept in biochemistry too complicated to get into here). Essentially, she suggests,
science turns raw information about the world around us into knowledge; engineering
turns that knowledge into utility; design turns utility into behaviour; art questions
that behaviour, suggests new ways of looking at the world; and science picks up on those
challenges to established ways of thinking and comes up with new information and
knowledge. So the creative cycle continues, driven by this essential momentum. There is
much to interrogate there, but Oxman implies the more parts of the cycle you get involved
with, the more creative momentum you pick up and the more impact you might have.
In this issue are examples of others who try to ride this cycle. The Belgium artist
Koen Vanmechelen runs his own silo-smashing art-meets-science project. And on page
128, we look at his remarkable new studio-meets-visitor centre, designed by architect
Mario Botta. We also preview new projects from Jean Nouvel (page 176), Daniel Libeskind
(page 124) and long-time Wallpaper* favourite, 6a (page 204). We spend time, too,
with a more unlikely Wallpaper* subject. Prince Charles is a complex and thoughtful man.
However much some of his ideas might rankle, he was forcing sustainability and
environmental stewardship onto the agenda long before it was fashionable. And, crucially,
he has done things about it, taken practical steps. On page 168 – with pictures by the great
Sir Don McCullin – he takes us for a spin in his vintage Aston Martin DB6, re-engineered
to run on waste products from cheese and wine production. Of course, it’s just one car
(now running better than ever, Charles insists), but it alerts us to new possibilities, smarter
ways of doing things. It’s heading in the right direction.
Nick Compton, Acting EditorHigh ambitions
Two newsstand covers
One for each of
our guest editors,
Neri Oxman and
Tomás Saraceno
Top, Oxman’s guest
editor pages were
designed by SPIN
(Tony Brook, Claudia Klat
and Jonathan Nielsen)
and include bespoke
typography. The
letter M, seen here, is
a combination of the
natural and organic
with the mechanical
and structured
Above, an Aerocene
Explorer takes flight,
photographed by
Max CreasyLimited-edition cover
by Tomás Saraceno
Photography:
Studio Tomás Saraceno
Saraceno’s special
cover features a detail
of A Thermodynamic
Imaginary, part of his
upcoming exhibition
at the Palais de Tokyo
Artworks courtesy of
the artist, Andersen’s
Contemporary,
Copenhagen; Ruth
Benzakar, Buenos Aires;
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery,
New York; Pinksummer
Contemporary
Art, Genoa; Esther
Schipper, Berlin
Limited-edition covers are
available to subscribers,
see Wallpaper.com
Wallpaper* is printed
on UPM Star, upm.comArtist and guest
editor Tomás Saraceno
prepares for the launch
of an Aerocene Explorer
at Helenesee in
Brandenburg, Germany.
Turn to page 337 for
his special section090 ∑
EDITOR’S LETTER