A fascinating documentary about Piet Zwart (1885–1977), an idiosyncratic and stubborn designer, who lived for innovati | dG1fMi1kYWx1cUlsdTQ
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Short filmTranscript
00:00How I work.
00:05Always with the thought that what we make is all nonsense.
00:10Piet Zwart is a self-made man.
00:13He sets out on his own path in shaping the 20th century.
00:17He calls himself a typotect.
00:20Typographer and architect.
00:23He was convinced of the seriousness of the things he was doing.
00:29He is self-willed and versatile.
00:32He found it very important that a worker sat on a nice chair.
00:35Functionality is paramount.
00:37Well-shaped industrial products that are accessible to a large mass.
00:43He felt very at home.
00:45He would absolutely not have felt at home in what they now call design.
00:51When I saw that dynamic work of Piet Zwart, which was not straight, but slanted.
00:56That was dynamic.
00:58First of all, it was a shock because it was so different from what we were taught.
01:02Piet Zwart takes every opportunity to improve existing products.
01:07From glassware and postage to organ building.
01:12From bicycle rack to kitchen.
01:15The kitchen as a rational workplace for the housewife.
01:19The efficiency of the household.
01:23Zwart also studied that.
01:25That is so much in his mind.
01:28Rationality, efficiency.
01:31And how do you solve that?
01:35Piet was a goldmine of information and interesting things.
01:40Since 1900, he has experienced the whole art and design world and architecture.
01:48Internationally, he enjoys the reputation of an icon of innovation.
01:53That man has experienced everything.
01:55The first cars, the first airplanes.
01:58So he was extremely interested in that technique.
02:01During his life, industrial design becomes a recognized profession.
02:06Piet Zwart is an engine, promoter and innovator.
02:10One of the pioneers of modern design.
02:14In that respect, I did not put myself in a cage.
02:18I just spontaneously made things.
02:22Just like that.