Paola Antonelli on Forces That Shaped Humanity Most

There are moments like this in history, and they’re almost cyclical. I remember once many years
ago listening to a Viennese mathematician explain the relationship between innovation in the
military and in scientific terms, and instead progress in the real world. And he was showing two
sinusoids that where one was at the peak when the other was at the bottom. So in moments like
the Second World War all the innovation was in the hands of the military. It was really secret.
And then about 10 years later, it all percolated down to the real world, because once the war is
over you disclose this technology and this innovation to the real world.

So I see us at a moment that is akin to the post war moment, akin to the ‘50s. It’s a moment we
had a big scare, which maybe we’re still close to Second World War. We’re still in the moment
of the big scare. For those of us who have some consciousness of the real problems that we are
putting on the environment and on ourselves, this is a very dangerous and critical moment. I
think that in the future, the sense of responsibility and the sense of collective good and collective
interest will become so paramount that there will be a Renaissance of positive efforts in the
world. That’s what I think. And designers will be really in the center of it all because what I told
you that they do is they are great synthesizers. They take the most important revolutions, the
most important happenings in history and they translate them for normal people.

I think that in the future, because objects will become less prominent, less important as
possession and more as doors and entryways to services, designers will have to become more
intellectual and less material orientated. And I know that it’s a leap, but I see them as becoming
the intellectuals of the future, the sages of the future. Maybe I’m pushing it too much, but I really
think that they can teach policymakers what people need and what people want. I mean who
better?