I have never bought a piece of furniture online.
It is not because I am conscious of being tricked by a flattering Instagram filter or a clever Photoshop retouching job, it’s because I believe that a piece of furniture has an energy to it.
There is a soul that comes from the interaction with it, like a house or an office space— it generates a feeling that you cannot replicate digitally. I wouldn’t purchase a piece of property online without visiting it, and I wouldn’t do that for a piece of furniture.
Call me old fashioned, but I find it hard to completely embrace a virtual world. Sure, there is certainly an argument for it being more efficient, safer and more convenient, but if the trade-off is the lack of a physical experience then it is something that I cannot embrace fully—especially with regards to the design world.
The casualty list of live events this year is long. Too long. Big design fairs including Design Miami/ Basel, PAD Paris and Milan Design Week were postponed, while others had to suddenly change their plans—Melbourne in March had to close earlier than planned. In September, Maison & Objet in Paris went the virtual route showing that, despite the troubles, the industry is still very much alive. There may have been many casualties of the pandemic, but creative minds and the ideas and concepts they generate have not been one of them.
Instead what it has done is give the design world an opportunity to rethink and (hopefully) reboot a mechanism that was at risk of being swallowed up by the frantic business of creativity, rather than the creativity itself. But will the trend of forcing event organisers to migrate everything online become the norm? I hope not.
This month, Dubai has confirmed that the annual Dubai Design Week is set to take place inperson. Naturally, the format will be different and, due to social distancing guidelines, several regular features will be missing, but after a bleak year of social events it is something we should embrace and make sure it turns out to be a popular event.
I love attending design events. What I enjoy the most is being able to speak to the designers, or touching the creation (when allowed!) and learning more about the creative process behind its construction. Investing in limited edition or bespoke design is investing in a piece that will be part of your legacy to the next generation.
The craftsmanship, the idea and the finishing is often worth the money spent. I browse a lot online, I follow design auctions remotely but nothing will replace the experience of interacting with a piece that you can touch, feel and interact with. Sometimes, to be honest, it can be a disappointment, but that is exactly why the reality should not be substituted.
Cyril Zammit is a design consultant and design expert, based in Dubai
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