Design Loves a Depression  

Very interesting essay,...
Very interesting essay, the_beloved, thanks for posting it. Are the likes of Target and Ikea democratizing design, I wonder, as much as they are capatalizing on it?

Nice
Good piece except for the statement about dwell "epitomizing the old paradigm of single-family homes".

I re-read that part
I don't think that sentiment was the necessarily the authors intention.
Perhaps it is better stated that Dwell and Architectural Digest "espouse" rather than "epitomize", the old paradigm of the single family home.

Flawed
I liked the sentiment of the article, but thought it was a little flawed.
Putting Ikea and Target as examples of "design made cheap" overlooks (and contradicts) the previous statement about furniture avoiding the landfil. Ikea and Target would need to strip away 2/3ds of their product lines to meet that goal.
The article made good in pointing out that quality and timeless design are essential, but didnt give many real world examples of current products meeting those criteria.
As times become tougher I'm starting to lose patience with those complaining about the problem without offering much in the way of solutions.