Argentina Design in the Past & Present

Colbo teapot by Colette Bocara (circa 1950); Topographic bench and plastic stools by Diana Cabeza (2002); Querencia modular system by Alejandro Sarmiento (2005)

In the austral confines, Argentina´s history is bound to modern design which started during the first decades of the XX century.  Then, a distinguished visitor like the Swiss architect Le Corbusier was astonished by such a landscape which, in different ways, turns out to be a powerful input when approaching different creative disciplines, design included.  That which captivated the Swiss architect and many other visitors is the unlimited vastness of the landscape, an infinite horizon where the sky meets the plain; Corbusier eternized it in a drawing and called it the “horizontal insignie”.

Horizon and sky: Le Corbusier drawing of Buenos Aires at his arrival (1929).

Vastness is not only a characteristic of the Pampa plain landscape but also of the Patagonia, which spreads out from the Andes to the Atlantic at the South end; or from the High Plateau which runs the length of the Andean North.  Vastness is also a characteristic of the subtropical rainforest of the Argentine Mesopotamia, all landscapes of exuberance, which aroused the curiosity of researchers, travelers, colonists and adventurers.

All this has been the context providing design with inspiration and materials, together with the technical lessons from native craftworks and, above all, the cultural mix which characterizes the Argentine society: a country built by immigrants from very many origins.  This pre-global attribute of our culture has greatly influenced design.

Lakes lanscape in Patagonia.

Nevertheless, in the Globe’s political division of XVIII and XIX centuries, Argentina appears as a provider of primary resources: agriculture products, meat and cows.  The search for beating this matrix through industrial progress has, since then, highlighted the tension and balance between two models of the same country: the one depending on renewable resources and the one able to become independent through development and welfare democratization.

Yelmo Vacuum cleaner (1973) Signal system Fototrama (Fingerman + Joselevich, 1968)

Only in the mid 50s, industry took advantage of design in order to improve its production and protect the domestic market from imports, above all, the ones from the USA.  This impulse gave way to a period of great industrial design hits:  the automotive enterprising such as the Torino car, the US IKA and Italian-Argentine joint-venture; home appliances Di Tella and a list of factories of the most varied sectors together with a blooming furniture industry which found in the new young up-and-coming pro-modern architects its main entrepreneurs.  Among them, stand out furniture brands such as Buró, Interieur Forma, CH Studio, Harpa and Six, and many others.

Sillón Rolo Arnoldo Gaite Reinaldo Leiro BURÓ (1971)

Alberto Churba and his Cinta Chair, part of V&A Collection (1970)

Likewise, up to the mid 70s, the industry witnessed the growth of enterprises from many different sectors which incorporated design.  This process was interrupted by the 1976 coup d´état.  It was very hard for the industry to overcome from a politics which dismantled it and encouraged imports.  Thus, design was limited to academic and artistic scopes up until the mid 90s.

The end-of-millennium crisis that led to a process of replacement of imports implied an impulsive rebirth of product design in the country. This was possible since there’s always been a good academic offer and a reservoir of professionals and new graduates ready to meet the needs of the domestic market.  At the same time, such disciplinary rebirth led the way to a search for: materials, languages, traditions.  This translated into a typical discussion about post-globalization: the search and questioning about identity.

Sylicon Mate cup for a native and popular beverage with yerbamate weed + straw, by Cherny-Demarco.

Charmiri furniture: contemporary design with Andean carnival touch, by Usos.

Nowadays, design in Argentina has an academic offer of 60 universities and colleges: national public ones grouped in the Disur network (www.disur.edu.ar) and private ones.

This scenario of much activity increases when including the interior of the country, where the appointment of Buenos Aires as city of Design (UNESCO 2005) has resulted in public policies supporting design.