How many fewer conservators there would be, if designers didn’t take risks

An article by Eve M. Kahn in the “Design” supplement to the March 8, 2018 issue of The New York Times (“When Furniture Fails the Test of Time” ), acknowledges the terrible truth about furniture made from experimental plastics— it discolors, oozes, explodes, melts, and generally falls apart. The only upside to this is the exciting challenges and employment it provides to conservators. As Susanne Granier, head of conservation at the Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein, Germany) is quoted saying, “What a joyless world it be, and how many fewer conservators there would be, if designers didn’t take risks.”