Keynote speaker at the Norm=Form Symposium that took place in Leipzig in early September was the Dutch design historian Timo de Rijk. Timo also curated the exhibition Norm=Form, and co-edited the accompanying book. In the course of a highly entertaining and thought provoking speech Timo tracked the story of standardisation over the centuries and presented his opinions on why we have standards. Including a hilarious comparison between the Chinese Communist Party and industrial designers.
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Much as we'd all like to believe product and furniture design is only about aesthetics and "form follows function". There's also a bit of dull old bureaucracy involved. Why do office swivel chairs have a five-foot base and not a four-foot base? Why do all aircraft seat belts have the same fastening system? Why can you plug your headphones into any portable device? The answer is Norms, or Standards - guidelines that define how things should be constructed and tested. Norms aren't,
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