The maestro talks about his new collection of sanitary ware Starck X, reflects on the desire to minimize everything peculiar to our civilization, and claims that designers are the wizards of our days.

Passing the gallery

Interview prepared: Nikolay Fedyanin

Magazine: N (98) 2005

Philip Stark (Philippe Starck) - a man with inexhaustible imagination. He designs a wide variety of items: from toothbrushes to cars. In an interview with SALON-interior magazine, the maestro talks about his new collection of sanitary ware Starck X, reflects on the desire to minimize everything peculiar to our civilization, and asserts that designers are wizards of our day.SALON: Monsieur Stark, do you prefer to take a bath or shower in the shower? - When I was young, I loved to lie in the bath and dream. But now I can not lose time, so in the morning I take an icy shower. However, I designed a bath with overflow and a small pool especially for those who like to have fun. In this bath you can splash, you can be more sexy, more "bubbling", more in love.S: Your collection of plumbing is very minimalist ... - What I do has nothing to do with minimalism. Minimalism is style, and my approach is to keep things to a minimum. Remember the history of the computer? At first it looked like a house, then it fit in a room, then it became like a cupboard, like a small suitcase, like a book, and in ten years the computer will be under our skin. Smaller, smaller and smaller is the logic of our civilization. We began to understand that it is not things that are important, but people, relationships with people. When I go to the bathroom, I do not want to see the sinks and toilets, I want to see my girlfriend.S: The building you built for DURAVIT doesn't seem to be minimized ... - Imagine a child traveling with his parents in a car. He is bored, around trees, trees ... and suddenly he sees a giant toilet. The child says: "Dad, look!" This is exactly the effect that I want. When you see something unimaginable, like a ghost or a monster, a spark flashes in your brain and you wake up. The child will remember all his life that behind every turn you can see something magical. I constantly say with my things: wake up, be surprised, create your life, create yourself, our society, our civilization.