Alvorada » Ethel Leon http://www.alvorada.org An Exploration of Brazilian Design Mon, 31 May 2010 18:58:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Yes, but http://www.alvorada.org/2009/08/yes-but/ http://www.alvorada.org/2009/08/yes-but/#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:04:50 +0000 Frederico Duarte http://www.alvorada.org/?p=143 There is a general sense of optimism, even enthusiasm, in the conversations I’ve had here in Brazil. The people I’ve talked to seem to be doing rather well; they don’t seem to have reasons to complain about their work or their condition as designers. There’s obviously always room for improvement, and much work to be done, but things seem to be heading in the right direction for Brazilian design.
But after meeting Ethel Leon in her São Paulo neighbourhood of Higienópolis I somehow managed to look at a bigger picture. Ethel is a design author, historian, curator and professor; her enlightening essay “Jovens Objectos Velhos” (Young Old Objects), which I volunteered to translate into English (soon), inspired one of my thesis’ areas of research.
Besides the above titles, Ethel is a design critic. On the online magazine she and others started just over a year ago, Agitprop, she has also been fostering critical writing on design by young and old writers and scholars, as well as promoting Portuguese translations of relevant foreign texts.
As others have expressed, Ethel is concerned about the lack of criticism – and the lack of investment in criticism from academia, media and cultural institutions – in Brazilian design, amidst all this enthusiasm. She is a fierce critic of the direction design education is taking in the country – over 400 programmes “churn out” designers in state and private schools, with little consideration for the country’s, but also the world’s social and environmental needs.
In Ethel’s opinion, it’s not by adding the sustainable, community-based or ethnographic-researched labels to the design practise and its outcome that a real difference can be made. It’s about designers acquiring a larger consciousness to their work and their role in society – it’s about recognising their role as citizens.
Often criticised for her negative – or is it critical? – statements and tone, Ethel admits to be, first and foremost, an optimist. She is also a believer in Brazil’s ability to contribute to this larger design consciousness our globalised world so desperately needs. Her voice and work should also serve as inspiration far beyond Brazil’s borders.

There is a general sense of optimism, even enthusiasm, in the conversations I’ve had here in Brazil. The people I’ve talked to seem to be doing rather well; they don’t seem to have reasons to complain about their work or their condition as designers. There’s obviously always room for improvement, and much work to be done, but things seem to be heading in the right direction for Brazilian design.

But after meeting Ethel Leon in her São Paulo neighbourhood of Higienópolis I somehow managed to look at a bigger picture. Ethel is a design author, historian, curator and professor; her enlightening essay “Jovens Objectos Velhos” (Young Old Objects), which I volunteered to translate into English (soon), inspired one of my thesis’ areas of research.

Besides the above titles, Ethel is a design critic. On the online magazine she and others started just over a year ago, Agitprop, she has also been fostering critical writing on design by young and old writers and scholars, as well as promoting Portuguese translations of relevant foreign texts.

As others have expressed, Ethel is concerned about the lack of criticism – and the lack of investment in criticism from academia, media and cultural institutions – in Brazilian design, amidst all this enthusiasm. She is a fierce critic of the direction design education is taking in the country – over 400 programmes “churn out” designers in state and private schools, with little consideration for the country’s, but also the world’s social and environmental needs.

In Ethel’s opinion, it’s not by adding the sustainable, community-based or ethnographic-researched labels to the design practise and its outcome that a real difference can be made. It’s about designers acquiring a larger consciousness to their work and their role in society – it’s about recognising their role as citizens.

Often criticised for her negative – or is it critical? – statements and tone, Ethel admits to be, first and foremost, an optimist. She is also a believer in Brazil’s ability to contribute to this larger design consciousness our globalised world so desperately needs. Her voice and work should also serve as inspiration far beyond Brazil’s borders.

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