Furniture design in crisis: saturation and declining royalties

Designer Benjamin Hubert denounced the saturation of the furniture sector during the Design Indaba conference in Cape Town (February 2016). He stated that everyone designs the same objects and that royalties are low, prompting him to transform his studio Benjamin Hubert Ltd into layer design, a multidisciplinary company focused on human-centered design. In Italy, Chiara Alessi analyzed the crisis in her book 'Dopo gli anni Zero. Il nuovo design italiano' (Laterza, 2014), highlighting that young designers struggle to earn income from royalties. At Salone del Mobile 2016, Hella Jongerius and Louise Schouwenberg presented 'A Search Behind Appearances' at La Rinascente (Milan), criticizing the reduction of design to mere stylistic differences and marketing. The project, in collaboration with Serpentine Galleries, used installations inspired by Plato's cave myth to metaphorize the ephemeral appearances of design.