It’s Day 124 and I finally finished painting the ceiling of my art space/laundry room.  My friend Karli started painting the walls a nice light blue.  It’s starting to look so much brighter and colorful.  Join me in celebrating Tomás Maldonado today!

 

Tomás Maldonado (born April 25, 1922 in Buenos Aires, Argentina). Argentine painter, designer and thinker, is considered one of the main theorists of the legendary ”Ulm Model”, a design philosophy developed during his tenure (1954–1967) at the Ulm School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung – HfG) in Germany.

Born in the Argentine city of Buenos Aires, his artistic formation took place at Escuela

Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón.

In this early period he was involved with the Argentine Avant Gardes, in fact, he was one of the founders of the painters’ movement called Arte Concreto-Invención.

Between 1964 and 1967, in collaboration with his German colleague Gui Bonsiepe he created a system of codes for the design program of the Italian firm Olivetti and the department store La Rinascente. In 1967 he established himself in Milan, continuing to teach in the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature of the University of Bologna, working almost entirely now in philosophy and criticism influenced by semiotics. In one of his last essays, “The Heterodox”, he claims that the role of the intellectual is to awaken or reveal the collective conscience.

Tomás Maldonado is professor of Environmental Design (Progettazione Ambientale) at Politecnico di Milano University.
Between 1954 and 1966 he taught at the Ulm School of Design (Hochschule für

Gestaltung: HfG) in Germany and served as both Rector and Prorector.

The leading contributor to the ”Ulm Model”, Maldonado oriented design education

towards attaining a balance between science and design, and between theory and practice, incorporating planning methods, perceptual theory and semiotics, A description of the approach is his essay entitled, “Ulm, Science and Design”.

 

In 1965 he was the “Lethaby Lecturer” at London’s Royal College of Art. The following year, he became a Council of Humanities Fellow at Princeton.
Between 1967 and 1970 he taught the “Class of 1913” chair at Princeton’s School of Architecture (SoA).

In 1971 he was appointed to the philosophical faculty of Bologna University. Between 1976 and 1984 he worked as full professor of Environmental Design (Progettazione Ambientale) at University of Bologna’s Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy.

Biography is from wikipedia.

“Tomas Maldonado … saw the design process as a system embodying both scientific-based and intuitive-based thinking. He considered that while design is indeed an art, the designer is not solely an artist. Aesthetic considerations were no longer the primary conceptual basis of design. The professional designer would be an “integrator” with responsibility for integrating a large number of specialties in addition to aesthetics, mostly the diverse requirements of materials, manufacturing and context of product use, as well as considerations of usability, identity and marketing.”

– Wikipedia: Ulm School of Design

I had a good time painting my tribute today.  Compared to other pieces similar to it, I had a much easier time with this one for some reason.  It flowed very well and was enjoyable.  I hope you enjoy it as well and I will see you tomorrow on Day 125!  Best, Linda