A few months ago, prolific product design star Philippe Starck shocked the world with his proclamation ‘Design is Dead’,and the announcement of his pending retirement due to his frustrationwith the ethical/consumption issues inherent to product design. Soundsto us like Starck had some sort of a midlife crisis and came to a realization that everything he’s ever designed is totally useless: “Everything I designed was unnecessary… and I am ashamed of this fact”Of course, we could have told him this awhile ago - but were still abit surprised and frustrated about his pessimistic proclamation andsubsequent retirement. One would think that the most helpful andsensible approach to the realization that one has been wasting one’stime producing useless crap {like uncomfortable see-through plastic chairs and scarily alien looking lemon-juicers that can’t actually be used} - would be to STOP producing useless crap and start putting one’s talent to use to try to make a positive difference in the world. And despite the melodramatic announcement this spring, perhaps thisis where Starck is headed after all, regardless of the threats ofgiving up entirely. Recently Philippe Starck has brought an amazingidea for renewable wind energy to life through a sleek new mini windturbine called ‘Democratic Ecology’.Philippe Starck’s personal invisible windmill ‘Democratic Ecology’ was introduced at Milan’s Greenergy Designshow earlier this year in a vibrant display relaying the intent toenable every man, woman and child on Earth to generate their own powerin designer style. The transparent mini-turbine will be available toall in September 2008 and, in typical Starck style, if everyone’s goingto have one he’s going to make sure they all look great.The turbine was on display in an twisted cube decorated with ecologically motivated statements, clearly designed to maximize the turbine’s aesthetic potential. Inhabitat was on the green scene in Milan,and can attest that the text and images looked fabulous viewed throughthe polycarbonate as it spun round. Presumably the transparency is ametaphor for the way Starck wants us to live: “Do we need so muchmateriality? The more materiality there is, the less humanity.” The windmill can generate 20-60% of the energy needed to power ahome, at a price point of around 400 Euros {$633}. Not realisticallywithin everyone’s budget, but by combining creativity and elegance withecology Starck will hopefully encourage more people to take greener steps. And for those who don’t want their conservation pieces to be conversation pieces, a subtler version has been proposed.The project was realized with the help of Pramac,a company better known for its petrol and diesel generator sets but onewhich has recently entered the renewable technology field. We can’thelp but think that Starck’s latest design is a sign of his owntransformation, marking the start of his new career as an advocate ofsustainable design.
www.inhabitat.com/2008/07/02/philippe-starck%E2%80%99s-designer-windmill-for-all/