Inside Design Now

What are the new trends in design today? Who are the new talents?

An authority on architecture and design, Susan Yelavich is a curator of the National Design Museum's 2003 National Design Triennial exhibition and co-author of the show's catalogue, "Inside Design Now," which looks at cutting edge design over the past three years from the perspective of 80 emerging and established designers. From the re-emergence of craft in design to the renewed appeal of wallpaper, Yelavich will answer questions about the meaning of design in everyday life and examines its current and future role in our society.

Submit your questions and comments before or during the discussion.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Janet Bennett Kelly: Good afternoon and welcome, everyone. From how our cities are built to the homes we live in to the clothes we put on our backs, design affects our lives. Our guest Susan Yelavich, a co-author of ?Inside Design Now,? the catalogue for Cooper-Hewitt?s 2003 National Design Triennial, is an authority on the subject. Before she goes off to Rome to work on her new book, ?Contemporary World Interiors,? she?s here to answer questions on what?s happening in design today.

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Washington, D.C.: Are design ideas influenced as new materials become available? And how do designers and others find out about the new materials they can work with?

Susan Yelavich: Good question. Yes, I think that in all areas of design from fashion to product to architecture materials are of special interest today. It's one way to enliven/enrich classically modern design. The best reference I know of for new materials is an organization in NYC called Material Connexion (www.materialconnexion.com). They are the conduit between the manufacturers/inventors/scientists and designers.

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Dover, Del.: If I were planning to renovate my apartment next year, what will the trends be that I should be thinking about now?

Susan Yelavich: Interesting question...it assumes you want your apartment to be in synch with next years taste. What happens the next year and the year after that? (or maybe just that you redecorate more rapidly than I do....)

That said I would pay attention to the furniture coming out of smaller studios and shops (i.e. in Brooklyn). There are a lot of young designers (from David Weeks/Butter to Jim Zivic) who are involved in crafting their pieces. If you don't have a personal style you want to advance, these folks design work that can best be described as personal in sensibility and would be good to look at. Many are featured in the National Design Triennial at Cooper-Hewitt.

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Gaithersburg: How is it effecting fashion than women (and to some extent men) see themselves and are seen by society as more fit and attractive than women of previous generations were at the same age?

Susan Yelavich: I think you're referring to what I think of as the baby boom generation's Peter Pan complex...we don't want to grow up. The fact that fitness is important (for some of the population) does mean that men and women can dress younger longer.

By the same token, there have been some interesting efforts to contend with age gracefully by the likes of Eileen Fisher. Issey Miyake uses older models.

I'm not sure that theres an answer to this question, but I will say that that fact that many women work outside the home (in public environments) longer may also contribute to this perception of longevity.

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Janet Bennett Kelly: Hi, Susan,

Janet here. In the past couple of months I've seen sofas and lamps in cork. Is this something new? What do you think about cork as a design material? Susan Yelavich: Kevin Walz did some great work with cork a couple of years or so back. It's also showing up in articles (in Dwell) on flooring. It is part of the lust for more sensual materials in a minimal environment. What I can't speak to is it's environmental qualities...I would assume it's a safe material...and not endangered but it would be worth evaluating from that standpoint too.

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Fort Lee, N.J.: Honestly, what makes for good style and who decides what the next trends are?

Susan Yelavich: Good style is always confident. It helps to be conversant with design history if you are going to combine different periods of furnishings. Just as it's easier to plant a garden with all one type of flower than to try massing different species, it's easier to stay within one vocabulary.

The "who" are designers, curators and writers and those invisible financial backers who help launch designers careers. There is also an immeasurable amount of luck in this equation.

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New York, N.Y.: This may not be up your alley, but...I'm thinking of building a cheap summer or weekend house. Are there any modern, minimal prefabs being done today?

Susan Yelavich: Yes, there is quite a ground swell of interest and activity around prefab housing.

I would refer you to Allison Arieff's book on Prefab Architecture. And to her magazine, Dwell, which is very committed to this subject.

Also, to Jennifer Siegel who is an LA based architect just written up in the Times for her excellent work in this area. (She's also in the Triennial.)

Since you're in New York, you might also want to check out the work of Lot/ek architects (there is a monograph out on them).

While all of the above folks have made their reputations in this area, you may just want to talk to a conventional architect about it too. There are dozens of young firms, I like ARO (Architecture Research Office)...

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Woodley Park, Washington, D.C.: Cork! I saw a chair upholstered in cork at one of the new furniture stores on 14th st. here in Washington.

And speaking of 14th st., it's amazing how many furniture stores are popping up these days, both there and elsewhere.

Do you think people are becoming more interested in furniture and the home? Would you say this is part of an inward-looking trend?

Janet Bennett Kelly: Hi, Woodley Park, Janet here. I saw that chair, too. And yes, 14th Street has become a really rich destination for home furnishings. The inward-looking trend is what the home furnishings industry calls "nesting." Susan?

Susan Yelavich: There has been an extraordinary increase in the public's awareness of design. Part of it comes from the fact that we Americans are stellar consumers and part comes from nostalgia for the innocence of the 50s and 60s, which the movie industry has certainly kept in front of us. (Think of Far From Heaven.)

I've heard people talk about the nesting instinct since the end of the go-go 80s...first we were chastened from our excesses, now we are supposedly afraid to go out of the house when the terror alert goes past yellow. I buy this less than the fact that alot of design educators, curators and writers have been working hard to bring value and attention to design.

Also, it's interesting that the art market is a bit quite and the material culture of design hot...think of Bilbao.

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Janet Bennett Kelly: Any designs or designers you think stood out at this year's ICFF? Susan Yelavich: I noticed that there were at least 5 wallpaper designers which seemed a bit unusual...(I have a passion for wallpaper from any era). Petra Blaisse, Tracy Kendall, Jaime Salm (MIO), Twenty Wallpaper stood out. Again, it's about adding visual complexity to our paved over, predictable world.

I also liked Bev Hisey's felt work.

In the realm of furniture, some of RicK Shaver of Shaver/Melhan's work is very appealing to me in its sublte reinterpretation of glamour.

But the most interesting work came from Parsons and from University of George students. I love the experimental projects.

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Baltimore: Susan,
Great information. Here's my pet peeve...furniture designers seem to designing for the "look," rather than for ease or comfort. What are your thoughts?

Susan Yelavich: Well, I see your point but I'd argue that not all furniture is meant to be slouched in or slept on...tho that's how I use my couch....I'm thinking of the Rietveld zig zag chair...very austere and comfortable but for a limited time.

The kind of chairs that must meet the obligation for comfort are office chairs and there have been great strides in that department. My mind is blanking but there's the iconic Herman Miller chair by Bill Stumpf. And of course, Niels Diffrient's work in chairs.

Chairs are sculpture in space when we aren't using them. The holy grail is that they function well, but think about things you buy (like shoes) for various occasions and durations of wear...I'd hate to live in a world without some excess of expression.-

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Woodley Park, Washington, DC: Hello -- Woodley Park here again. Reading what you wrote about an increasing national interest in design made me think of stores like Target and IKEA that are bringing affordable versions of design w/in the reach of many people. Not to mention K-mart and Martha Stewart!

Do you think that any of the stuff being sold in these stores now will have the staying power to look good in a couple of decades?

Janet Bennett Kelly: Interesting question. Susan, what do you think?

Susan Yelavich: Absolutley, you are right to credit the Targets, Ikeas, etc. FYI Pottery Barn first went into business in 1949! It's taken a while....And Martha has done inestimable good (in my book) with her K-Mart line.

Staying power...that's another story. I don't think that at the price points we're talking about that these products will be heirlooms. They have an inherent disposability. But why not think of them as "starter" sets. Back in the late 40s and 50s people got Russel Wright dishes as premiums with modest purchases. The theory was that as their tastes expanded and incomes grew they would move up.

The downside of that is it's not very sustainable in a garbage clutter world. The upside is that it's an informal design education that isn't pedantic or a big drain on the purse.

The other downside is the use of celebrity in our culture which is a whole other discussion.

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Tysons Corner, Va.: Hi Janet,
I've been watching Trading Spaces lately and have attempted painting furniture. It looks great for a few months, but unfortunately the paint tends to come off with use. Do you have any recommendations with regard to preparation and product when painting over finished surfaces?
Thanks! YX

Janet Bennett Kelly: Hi, Tysons, I'm not a do-it-yourselfer, but if I were to attempt to paint furniture, I'd look at some books in the how-to section of a bookstore or library. Trading Spaces can make things look very easy.

Susan Yelavich: The only thing I learned from my contractor-husband is to always abrade the surface before you apply an new coat. Steel wool or sand paper work. Better to strip away the previous layers altogether.

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Silver Spring, MD: Recently it seems like a lot of interior design has had a distinctly Asian look. Do you see this changing any time soon? If so, where do you think the next "exotic" design influence will come from?

Susan Yelavich: I'm not sure I understand what you mean by Asian...minimal? Shoji screens? While I don't know what culture will be mined next, I do know that the best designers aren't afraid to be eclectic in their influences. For example, the Dutch designer Hella Jongerius has looked at Delft ceramic traditions to create new (and very design-forward) ceramics of her own.

On the whole I am suspicious of whole sale adoptions of cultural styles...occasionally a fashion designer does it well and famously (I'm thinking of Yves St. Laurent's Russian peasants some many years ago)...but it works because the designer is genuinely inspired. So the answer is dependent on where designers are travelling in part....and what corners of the world we consumers aren't bored with...where do you want to visit?

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Janet Bennett Kelly: Susan, you've mentioned the re-emergence of craft in design. Can you point to where you've seen this? Susan Yelavich: I've seen it across the board in fashion (Tess Giberson's heavily hand-stitched pieces) in furniture (Jim Zivic's hand-carved coal tables) and in environments (Joe Holtzman's interior space in the Triennial and his magazine NEST which he always treats as an object by either piercing, wrapping or scalloping its pages).

I just juried an exhibition of women's design called Transformations at Parsons School of Design, and was struck by the inclusion of hand embroidery in a table top piece and by Laurene Leon's rugs which had nude women with long tresses functioning like out of control shag carpeting (pun intended).

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Long Island, N.Y.: Is the trend to paint room walls different colors or only neutrals such as white and beige? (I remember a few years ago seeing crimson walls, bright yellow walls and all the colors of the rainbow).

Susan Yelavich: Saturated colors are popular right now, but color decisions should be made in concert with furnishings and with the desired affect. If you want a room to feel snug and warm there are colors that will accomplish that and vice versa.

Unless you want to create a period room of your own, there are no prescribed colors. If there is a trend it might be to keep one wall different from all the others to create visual interest (mural wallpaper/different color/and for the brave even wood panelling).

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New York: Susan,
You mentioned 5 wallpaper designers at the ICFF show. I guess that means that wallpaper is "in" and, if so, any special patterns (nothing like Grandma's wallpaper, I guess)?

Janet Bennett Kelly: You mentioned some wallpaper designers who had shown at ICFF; where can you find their work?

Susan Yelavich: Petra Blaisse is rep'd by Wolf Gordon
wallpaper twenty: www.shoptwenty2.com
Geoff McFetridge (in the Triennial) is at www.championdontstop.com
www.tracykendall.com (very cool, she hand sews buttons on her papers among other tactics for reinventing the medium)

Also check out any shelter magazine and you'll find ads for more conventional wallpaper designers--and someone is still making or reviving Grandma's wallpaper I'm sure.

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Philadelphia: Susan,
What design magazines should I be reading? Which ones are especially influential?

Janet Bennett Kelly: You seem to like Nest and Dwell? Any others?

Susan Yelavich: Metropolis is an important publication...it has a good conscience.

I love the World of Interiors (Conde Nast/but out of Britain) for pure eye candy

Western Interiors is a new magazine that looks promising

Interior Design is a good staple, but my favorite interiors magazine is the Dutch "Frame"

Domus and Abitare are very intelligent and very beautiful Italian magazines.

I'm overlooking many I'm sure but these are top of mind.

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Washington, DC: Hi Susan and Janet,

I'm sure you've seen many of the new boutique hotels which are popping up in DC and elsewhere. Two questions: 1. Do you think the designs that we see in these hotels should be emulated in anyone's homes? 2. With all their hip stools and banquettes, am I the only bad-back sufferer who has a problem with these? Shouldn't Ian Schrager recognize that his clientele is aging?

Janet Bennett Kelly: I was recently having brunch at a hip hotel in NYC, and it struck me that the design was all sharp angles. It was really not comfortable.

Susan Yelavich: Hotels are theater, sets that their owners hope will be filled by young glamorous actors on the urban stage. If you want that kind of ambiance in your home, i.e. you entertain a lot, I suppose it wouldn't be a bad model. I think because transience is still part of the definition of a hotel, their lobby furnishings are meant to be sat in briefly (while awaiting a tryst?)...room furnishings would seem to have a different burden (where the tryst takes place)...

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New York, N.Y.: Is there a hot new object or piece of furniture? If I were going to buy one thing or one piece to update my apartment, is there anything you would suggest?

Susan Yelavich: I would not want to presume your taste, but would direct you to a few show rooms or web sites or catalogs. Design Within Reach is a great resource for modern furniture; Moss is the ne plus ultra of design stores; and Ralph Pucci has interesting furnishings worth taking a look at.

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Bowie, Md.: I can think of three reasons that fashions change:

1. Materials or techniques are invented or become more cost effective (e.g. Gore-Tex rainwear)

2. Societal attitudes change (e.g. "business casual" clothing)

3. The industry wants us to become dissatisfied with our old clothes so we'll buy new ones

How much of the new fashions are in because of 1 and 2, as opposed to 3?

Susan Yelavich: Since we're talking about fashion I think 3 is dominant just because of the "seaons" and the ritual of shows...there is such artificial presssure on designers to be new every 6 mos....that's why I like Isabel Toledo who doesn't do all the shows but develops ideas...same with Miyake.

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Bethesda, Md.: In your opinion is minimalism dead or dying? If so, what do you think is next?

Susan Yelavich: Minimalism in its purist John Pawson sense was very hard to sustain...look at Dwell Magazine's more relaxed interpretation of the modern style for next steps.

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Chevy Chase, Md.: Looking forward to going to NYC to see the Cooper-Hewitt exhibit. I wonder if you could elaborate on the "re-emergence of wallpaper" in design?

Susan Yelavich: Thanks...am not sure why it's happening but the Museum does have a strong wallpaper collection and did do several good shows on the subject in the last decade.

Truthfully, I think nostalgia (not my favorite motivator) is behind a lot of the reconsideration. You can go to Second Hand Rose in NY and buy a roll of cowboy wallpaoer for $70...not bad for real vintage imager.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Is black still the new black? And will it always be this way?

Joking aside, it seems like every season we are told that some color or another is the new black. Yet many style-conscious women stick to the same basic black, no matter what the pundits tell them (and even if they themselves _are_ the pundits!)

And -- what does it mean about us that this color is a fave?

Susan Yelavich: It means that it makes us look thin, it eliminates coorindation and decisions...and it is undeniably elegant.

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Silver Spring, Md.: How do you think the design of computers and other digital devices (think PDAs, cell phones, digital cameras, etc.) may change as these objects become increasingly interwoven into the fabric of everyday life?

Susan Yelavich: They will probably be bundled so we're not carrying so many small appliances; they may become embedded into traditional objects but only if the upgrade process is easy.

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Arlington, Va.: Hi Susan! Is there a design trend -- small or large -- on the horizon that you think will visibly change our homes/alter our daily routines in the next year or so?

Susan Yelavich: I can't think of one in the next year but I do think that in the next generation or two we will be living with new robotic devices, even companions.

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Washington, D.C.: Do you get into designing appliances?
I'm thinking specifically of televisions where the buttons are small and THE SAME COLOR (usualy black) as the background.
That may be "sleek" but it is NOT user friendly!

Susan Yelavich: Product designers have been wrestling with this for as long as I've known them...the engineer geeks always want more and the designers less...marketers think offering more is better....but there have been substantive improvements...if you want to pursue this get in touch with the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America...they have a web site I'm sure)...

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New York, New York: If I don't want to decorate my apartment in a contemporary style, is there a "period" style that is particularly chic right now?

Susan Yelavich: I'd go for baroque...seriouly...sensual rococo lines are very in vogue.

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Janet Bennett Kelly: Thank you, Susan, and thanks, everyone, for those interesting questions. And that's a wrap. Happy Tuesday evening.

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