20/20 vision
What do 20-year-olds think about design, and how does it fit into their lives? We asked 20 selfie-shooting Wallpaper* natives for their point of view
What today’s 20-year-olds think about design
1. HECTOR ANDRES POVEDA MORALES Chiquinquirá, Colombia What does design mean to you?
Design is simply everything around us; it is what makes something unique; it is passion.
How important is design in your life?
I’m an artist so design is very important. I believe that by combining functionality and aesthetics, I can find the sweet spot between making my life easier and nicer.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
In my dream house in the mountains, where I’ll be doing landscape photography and managing my own marketing and advertisement company.
2. AMELIA WALL London, UK What does design mean to you?
Design is an inexhaustible energy that makes up my world. It also means opportunity.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
As a fashion student, objects and materials make up my design. I love understanding the way fabrics behave, but experiences are what give objects meaning.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Thomas Heatherwick, a modern Leonardo da Vinci proving anything is possible with design as long as you allow the mind to romp into the unknown. Frank Gehry – I remember seeing his drawings on my foundation course and thinking, ‘Right, this is how I’m going to design from now on.’ And Emilia Wickstead, my favourite designer. I’m starting a design internship there next month, which I can’t stop thinking about.
3. GIACOMO CABRINI Milan, Italy What does design mean to you?
A very complex yet fascinating form of self-expression.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
Objects have always been much more attractive to me. The way a particular thing is designed and the way it feels when using it can make me completely obsessed with it, whether it’s a shoe, a phone or a chair. However, I often struggle to maintain that same level of interest and engagement with a specific object. I tend to move on to the next thing pretty quickly.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
MC Escher, Zaha Hadid and Issey Miyake.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
The idea that one day I’ll be 40 feels so surreal to me. What I know for sure is that I want to be able to experiment with my passion for image and technology by working professionally as a creative. I hope, in that way, to make an impact on the creative industry.
4. AINCRE EVANS Gaborone, Botswana What does design mean to you? To me, design means creativity. Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
I’m a big advocate of experiences. I’ve lived in a range of different countries, from Ghana to Vietnam, and from Holland to Botswana, and each experience changed me. The different experiences a person encounters in their lifetime, and the way they register these experiences, are what makes that person distinct from everyone else.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Stella Jean, Vivienne Westwood. To be honest, I couldn’t think of another, so I did some research and found out about Duro Olowo, a Nigerian print designer.
Where do you want to be in 20 years time?
I want to be able to say I’m completely happy with myself. I want to be able to look back on my experiences and take the best from them.
5. ALEX HARVEY Canberra, Australia What does design mean to you?
It’s a way of creating beauty in our daily lives as it can make the mundane extraordinary and create an easier means of living. Good design is just as important for its aesthetic properties as it is for practical use.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
I believe experiences are a result of objects, so the two work in a symbiotic relationship. Being submersed in great architecture triggers an experience – a feeling of peace or awe. Without that reaction, objects lose their power.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Charles Eames, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn.
6. AIDANA ORYNBASSAR Almaty, Kazakhstan What does design mean to you?
To me, design means creating something for a purpose.
How important is design in your life?
Very important. We don’t often appreciate how everyday objects are designed to provide comfort and efficiency.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Adobe Illustrator, Ikea, and Cos.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
Flying between my home country and hopefully London, New York and Paris, trying to achieve my dream of making Kazakhstan a part of the international art world.
7. FELIPE HAIUT Rio de Janeiro, Brazil What does design mean to you?
Design is the way man took nature and put culture in it. It is the way we see the world. Everything around us is design.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Hélio Oiticica, Oscar Niemeyer and Piet Mondrian.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
I’d like my life to be full of friends, and I’d like to be able to travel wherever I want.
8. ELISA CARASSAI Milan, Italy What does design mean to you?
It is the making of something that can make people feel confused, inspired and excited at the same time. It can be practical and useful, but can also revolutionise the way people think, act and live. It’s yet another fascinating way of expressing who we are and who we want to be.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Nina Yashar, the design maven. Ettore Sottsass, king of the Memphis movement. And when interning at ladoublej.com in 2015, the office was in Italian architect Mario Bellini’s former headquarters, which had been designed and built by him and his team, so I was literally surrounded by design influences.
9. CHARLES STAUFFER Singapore What does design mean to you?
Design, in the form of photography, has been a way for me to discover myself. It has allowed me to meet people and make friends that I would never have met if I hadn’t picked up a camera two years ago.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
I am definitively more interested in experiences. As an event and combat photographer in the Singapore Infantry, I’m often hiking in the wee hours of the morning to be able to catch the perfect sunrise, staying up late doing timelapses of Singapore’s skyline, or braving the rain to capture storms. All of this makes for experiences that only photography could have pushed me to seek.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Lodz, Jarrad Seng, and Robert Capa.
10. ELANA WONG London, UK What does design mean to you?
Design to me is aesthetics, it’s functionality, it’s thought.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
Experiences shape people, and understanding people’s experiences, how they have interpreted them and allowed it to mould their character, is far more telling of someone than the objects they surround themselves with. I believe that too much clutter and too many possessions are unnecessary when the world holds countless potential interactions with interesting, amazing people and cultures.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
I hope to be doing a job I love and feeling fulfilled and happy. I hope to be making a positive impact on people’s lives.
11. ADAM WILKIE London, UK What does design mean to you?
I think of artistic creation, be it architecture, fashion, products and even sound. Everything can tie into design when it is created for a purpose – design can have several purposes, it can make you happy or sad.
How important is design in your life?
I see myself in a subculture where design is important. In my generation, no matter what you do, design is essential and a constant topic of conversation; what you wear, the new cool kicks or latest phone. Things like that seem to make people move.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
Objects! In the future, I see myself collecting and sharing art. I imagine myself buying things that are worth something because of their design or creator. I think that I get this from my parents – they treasure Art Nouveau objects.
12. GRETA LANGIANNI Florence, Italy What does design mean to you?
It’s the result of a process that combines imagination, ideas, innovation, personality and more in order to create something.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
I don’t think they are necessarily two different things – often the objects people create are the result of their experiences.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Karl Lagerfeld, Piet Mondrian, and Antoni Gaudí.
13. MAYA FILMERDIS New York, US What does design mean to you?
I don’t think of design in terms of grid layouts, straight lines or the strict principles of the golden ratio. Design to me is a far more emotional process than a rational one.
What three names come to mind when you think of design? Toko Shinoda, Julie Mehretu and Anni Albers. Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
I believe objects provide doorways to experiences. I take after Heidegger in this respect.
14. DANIEL WOODROOF Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia What does design mean to you?
As a racing-car driver, design is incredibly important to me. I spend hours sitting with engineers, looking through data to extract thousandths of a second in performance. With results reliant on such small margins of error, the design of the car always has to be at maximum efficiency. But design doesn’t just mean performance– it also means looking sexy.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
Experiences. They don’t just give you the stories to tell, but also shape your perspectives. Objects can wear out or break, but experiences stay with you forever.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
Sipping on a glass of wine in a vineyard I’d own in South Africa.
15. KARL-JOYAH SØRENSEN Copenhagen, Denmark What does design mean to you?
I think that design is the human way of surpassing our biological limitations. For example, I extend my vision with binoculars, further my reach on my bike, and grow my social tribe through smartphones with 3G.
How important is design?
I value quality design highly and care a lot about my few
carefully chosen possessions, my Tokyobike and my Contigo mug among them.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Arne Jacobsen, and Charles and Ray Eames.
16. SARAH LIM Washington, US What does design mean to you?
It’s about making deliberate choices during the process of creation. Intentionality is what separates a designed outcome from an incidental outcome.
How important is design in your life?
As a software developer, I’m interested in designing solutions that are usable and functional.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
Objects are about experiences; when you make something that’s remarkable to look at, clever or just fun, you’re creating an experience for someone.
17. ANDREA BROCCA New York, US What does design mean to you?
For me, it’s the bridging between mind and matter.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Zaha Hadid, Madeleine Vionnet, and Leonardo da Vinci.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
I stand against fast fashion, instead focusing on fabric sustainability using the golden ratio as a unit of measure to avoid garment pattern waste. I plan to expand my understanding of the creative process through collaborations with people from different fields of design.
18. NANG MO HOM Yangon, Myanmar What does design mean to you?
The consistency in the placement of something speaks to me. To me, this consistency can range from patterns in painting and textiles to an artist who only produces abstract art.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
I don’t think that objects and experiences are mutually exclusive. But I am probably more interested in experiences because I associate objects with feelings and I mostly remember how they made me feel.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Architect Frank Gehry, artist Keith Haring, and also the De Stijl movement.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
I hope to be a surgeon, working in Myanmar.
19. MARTINIQUE HO Syracuse, US What does design mean to you?
As an industrial designer, I see design as a way to approach problems where you consider the whole and its relationship to its parts and its purpose.
What three names come to mind when you think of design?
Dieter Rams, Marcel Breuer, Charles and Ray Eames.
Where do you want to be in 20 years’ time?
My dream is to live in Denmark, Norway or Sweden, working for a sustainable furniture firm. I love working with my hands.
20. PAU OLIVERES Mexico City, Mexico What does design mean to you?
It’s thinking up something that doesn’t exist in our world yet.
How important is design in your life?
I work in a molecular engineering lab, so coming up with creative solutions to problems and designing new experiments takes up most of my time.
Are you more interested in objects or experiences?
I think the act of experiencing requires us to interpret, think, and be very aware of our situation and its implications. Join in our birthday celebrations at Wallpaper.com and using #Wallpaper20