25 años con Innovator

Johan Huldt

21/04/94. (Sala 159)

When “Innovator” was founded in 1969 it was largely as a response to the fact that “Beautiful” would be expensive. This was particularly noticeable in Scandinavia, where the ideals of design were austerity and elegance.

Why was it necessary to be both an adult and enjoy a good position to buy beautifully designed furniture?

My desire was to create innovative furniture at a reasonable price, casual-looking, of practical use, flexible in terms of function, combined with ecological awareness. Twenty years ago this was quite exotic, but even today I find myself exploring these same issues that are always linked to innovative design concepts. This has begun to create a furniture trend, appreciated worldwide, based on practical needs, such as spare parts and washable covers for furniture.

Beauty has always intrigued man since the beginning of time. Man has not only tried providing for survival, but has also expressed himself in various ways to satisfy its desire for beauty. Beauty is therefore a basic human need, and is on a par with sleep, food and sex. This makes the challenge of the design profession very important and full of responsibility. The first designer of the Stone Age only designed for himself. Today, objects that are designed are produced in astronomical quantities and are present in every moment of daily life of the modern man. This requires, on part of the designer a special knowledge and vision of today. We have an explicit word for this in Swedish: “omsorg”.

Furniture should work together in an environment (at home) and should act together as actors in a play. Good design furniture should be part of a system and be able to combine in groups as though expressing the intention and the mind of the director. “Innovator” is a modern concept of furniture, not a collection of individual objects or sculptures without any inter-relationship.

Johan Huldt has works in:
– National Museun of Sweden in Stockholm.
– Museum of Modern Art in New York.
– Museum of Art of Sao Pablo, Brazil
– Museum of Modern Art of Río de Janeiro, Brazil.