Welcome to the 239th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode, we confront ‘small m’ minimalism, explaining the danger of over-simplified design and crisis amid identity elimination.
On June 18th, 2022, Twitter user @/culturaltutor published a thread titled “The Danger of Minimalist Design (& the Death of Detail)”. Upon publication, the post went viral on a series of platforms, igniting debate in the design community as readers expressed their criticisms and applause for analyzing our current ultra-minimalistic philosophies. Concerning the writer, however, select users pointed out that the thread glossed over the phenomenon’s origin and impact, which will be highlighted in this post.
The general thesis behind Tutor’s analysis takes aim at the trend of oversimplification across all avenues of design. Opening with comparative imagery of sculpted bollards in Manchester, London, as opposed to flush stainless steel fixed bollards seen in contemporary parking garages and city strips, they demonstrate a stark disparity between designs that carry identity and those that do not.
From whimsically crafted cast iron fences in Tullgarns Palace, Sweden, to unidentifiable steel wire barriers found on bridges across the world, Tutor attempts to draw a parallel between our faded attention to detail, craft and beauty and this new, soul-sucking focus on sheer utility. Drawing a line between ‘conscious minimalism’ as seen in Peter Zumthor’s work, and that of the uninspired architecture that now plagues our world, the thread expresses a concern for further stripped design, lack of colour and the death of detail.
So who’s to blame, and what will happen if this trend continues? While a loaded question, the origin of these ideals is likely rooted in cost-effective, capitalist measures. With minimalism, the design retains so few distinguishable qualities that it, in turn, becomes marketable to all. It’s hard to hate something barely noticeable to begin with, and it’s also much cheaper to mass produce. Yet, it deprives humans of traces of excitement and interest, leading us further toward a dull, formless reality.
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