Getting to Know Niko Kralj
Dr. Steve Diskin, Chairperson of Industrial Design, Pratt Institute,
New York
One of the pleasures of experiencing design - aside from the obvious
visual, tactile and conceptual delights that can constellate around a
beautiful object - is thinking about the intentions and character of the
designer. As with the fine arts, design functions best and touches us
most when it has complex layers of meaning that resonate through both
body and brain. Designers, by putting their work into the world, also
educate us, revealing through their experiments the potential of form,
material and expression. All of these factors in a great work of
design add up to a sort of portrait, and the object itself becomes a
very sophisticated medium of human contact, with some of the same
features as a talk with a good friend.
These were the thoughts going through my head a long time ago when I
became the proud owner of a 1972 Citroën DS - yes, the crazy,
controversial French car, but a work of design that very cleverly and
wonderfully synthesized all the elements of engineering, aesthetics,
function and user experience. But more than that, this automobile
seemed to talk, somehow infused with the voice of the designer,
exactly as if he were sitting in the passenger seat, explaining as you
drove why the steering wheel had only a single massive spoke, angled
down to the left at 45 degrees, or why the hydraulic suspension
produced such a velvety ride. You could not help butlaugh out of sheer
pleasure at the satisfying “conversation” between man and machine.
It was the same feeling I had when I met Charles and Ray Eames for the
first time, experiencing the special vitality of their studio, seeing
the great variety of shapes and materials in their work, watching
little documentary films on toy trains or ethnographic artefacts, and
hearing design described in very humanistic terms.
And it was also thus in “encountering” the work of Niko Kralj. As a
foreign designer in Slovenia, it was inspiring to me to discover the
way in which he celebrated wood, clearly resonating in the tradition
of Eames and Aalto, with a love of material but also of process and
form, “collaborating” with it to bring a simple chair, for example, to
a higher plane of design expression. It was also satisfying to think
that Kralj was part of an international, almost universal phenomenon
of the times when industrial design was literally being invented: a
small group of humanistically oriented designers using mass production
techniques to touch people’s lives with the feel of a curved surface,
soft radii, an economy of material, a sophisticated structural
strategy, and the comfort and solidity of a good chair, still one of
the greatest icons of our field.
Yet, more than the Slovenian love of the forest, more than the
once-flourishing industry in this country that nevertheless left
behind a wood tradition, more than the technology of bending and
joining, more than the mechanical production of multiple units which
distinguishes industrial design from its brothers and sisters of other
artistic fields, and more than the numerous accolades and kind words
bestowed on Kralj, there is a special human being behind all this, one
who through his work as a designer and professor tried to show us
what’s possible and communicate quietly but very effectively a
personal vision of the man-made part of life and the twists,
bifurcations and meldings of the creative process.
In these pages, we find a detailed portrait of Niko Kralj, and we get
to know him just a little bit better through his choices, philosophy
and output. In the end, we know that science will transform our
understanding of the universe, technologies will come and go,
aesthetic trends will surely morph from one to another, and the
objects that inhabit our homes and offices will change their form as
time goes on. But the constant in all of this is we, human beings, who
in an ideal world strive to know each other better and make life
richer through our interactions. We are lucky that Niko Kralj had this
very intention and that the legacy of his contribution will remain in
the Slovenian and international design spheres for a very long time.
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About the Book
Prof. dr. Fedja Košir, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of
architecture
Architect Niko Kralj is a designer who deserves to be placed into each
and every overview of Slovenian design achievements. However, those
encyclopaedias are mostly too short to encompass his contribution
fully and objectively. The book in front of you eliminates this
deficiency. The author, Jasna Hrovatin, efficiently realizes the
desideratum, a versatile presentation of the architect’s personality
and work. An exceptionally plastic portrayal of a human being, who
dedicates his efforts to a single but very demanding task, is laid in
front of us. He makes every effort to design user-friendly items which
can be linked into entirely recognizable ambiences.
The material collected by Hrovatin is exceptionally extensive, as
well as skilfully arranged. Someone else would probably have drowned
in the multitude of data that are logically divided into chapters
encompassing the architect’s educational, design, research and even
theoretical work, on top of his work as a publicist. Footnotes provide
a reader with a useful and bibliographically correct list of numerous
texts published by Kralj. It is no secret that he has mastered
rhetoric (and implemented it in his texts) - not only because of his
characteristic readability, but also because of the innovativeness of
his viewpoints. He isn’t only a top-notch expert, but also an eloquent
witness to the occurrences that he monitors and co-creates.
The present monograph is well organized in terms of content. A
plethora of valuable details is arranged in a very transparent manner.
It is clearly divided into five parts. It starts with an illustration
of a period of the architect’s professional efforts, followed by his
biography and bibliography, and several memoirs of the architect’s
acquaintances, colleagues and last but not least, his closest
relatives: an extra, regularly missed in such detailed overviews,
which adds just what we call the colour of an era.
Kralj’s biography is exceptionally dynamic. It belongs to a generation
not indulged by history. However, whomever manages to survive all
tests and ordeals and suffers no major deformations in the process is
cut out of hardwood that persists. Occasional bending only serves the
purpose of soon carrying what he lays upon himself in an untameable
desire to realize the unrealizable. One consequence of the architect’s
above-average diligence is an exceptionally long list of awards and
recognitions that he undoubtedly deserves for his merits as well as
creations. But above all, it is the architect’s concrete achievements
that fully convince us in this book.
The core of the monograph is a remarkably illustrated analysis of
Kralj’s design principles. Niko Kralj is an industrial designer, or
better yet, a designer of mass-produced products. He is a living
antithesis of the position which states that only unique, handmade
products qualify as truly artistic work. But still! This is about two
opposite facets of the same creative volition, which depend on
extremely social as well as individual impulses.
An objective critic has to agree with both positions, with a single
caveat: both cases are about genuine efforts. In the case of Niko
Kralj, there are no doubts with reference to his authenticity as well
as his diligence.
This book addresses a few issues that as yet have only been ostensibly
explained, or sometimes not convincingly enough. The exception is the
presentation of the legendary chair Rex. It has been traditionally
believed that the product emerged almost incidentally, and that all
the credit is due to its market launch, which resembles a violent
volcano eruption. Hrovatin clearly shows the amount of precise
experimental testing that is required before an all-out successful
serial production can begin.
We find ourselves at the point which can also be referred to as the
moment of truth. Many things that were considered firm facts, beyond a
shadow of a doubt, are now just an illusion, if not a very unpleasant
delusion. However, even in a tense situation like this, beautiful past
memories represent more than just a poor consolation. We need hope and
trust to perhaps do it once again. All we need is sturdy enough wood.
The architect Kralj also represents a metaphor. He has been a central
persona of Slovenian modern industrial design for more than three
decades: from his inauguration in the mid 1950s all the way to the
well-known aesthetic and social crisis of the mid 1980s. As one of the
pioneers in the efforts for a more humane world—one without annoying
absolutist ethical or aesthetic burdens, or even pastoral rapes—he
leaves behind a fascinating, extensive and diverse oeuvre that will
definitely represent a base for any future research, which will all
rely on Hrovatin’s monograph: citandum is certainly unavoidable.
We are getting a good and comprehensive, and at the same time directly
well-written book, which will be appreciated by architecture experts,
as well as those who care deeply about their places of residence and
would like to learn more about the issue.
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Unsurpassed Innovation in Industrial Design
Prof. dr. Živa Deu, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of architecture
The creative work of the architect Niko Kralj, a central persona of
Slovene industrial design in the second half of the 20th century and a
long-standing professor at the Faculty of Architecture, then a part of
the Civil Engineering and Geodesy Department, is presented in a few
articles published in various popular and professional publications.
Most are dated correspondingly with the architect’s active involvement
with scientific, research and pedagogical work. We as a nation lack
insight into his contribution to the development of the Slovenian
culture of living, a comprehensive depiction of his life, imbued with
the quest for the new, technically thought-out, useful and beautiful
in interior design, which needs to satisfy the demands of serial
production.
Therefore, the monograph prepared by Jasna Hrovatin, PhD, is
particularly valuable. The author, who was also Kralj’s student and a
young researcher, divided the book entitled Niko Kralj into two parts,
which differ with reference to their approach of address. The first
part consists of three chapters: historical background of Kralj’s
creative period and his biography, Kralj as a pedagogue and a
designer, and characteristics of Kralj’s design, in which the period
of time, in addition to the role and work of the designer-architect
are not only described, but also critically evaluated with the passage
of time.
In the second part we take note of the extent of his work. In the
chapter entitled “Chronological overview”, his works are presented
chronologically and according to their significance and value. The
monograph concludes with short depictions, memories, aphorisms and
visions of Niko Kralj through the eyes of his closest: his daughter,
schoolmates, friends and long-time colleagues.
The first part of the monograph has a special value, although
presentation of a creative personality requires a whole. In addition
to revealing the importance and role of Kralj’s work in Slovenian
industrial design, the alert reader can also distinguish the required
capabilities for success in a certain space and time. Kralj aimed his
creative talent, his extensive knowledge of materials and attention to
technical and artistic detail, and his constant search for improvement
at the professional void of which he rapidly became aware. Thousands
of apartments designed by his colleagues and aimed at meeting the
demands of a spatial minimum needed to be fitted and furnished with
minimalistic, modular, easily dismantled, light and affordable
furniture designed for industrial mass production.
His original seating sets, chairs, tables, wardrobes and cabinets
did not only satisfy the demands set out, but due to their technical
perfection and artistic uniqueness, also placed among the highest
graded products of industrial design in Yugoslavia. The chair Rex, the
most successful and particularly well described in the monograph, a
useful, technical and artistic piece of Kralj’s furniture, positions
the pedagogue and inventor in the catalogue of world achievements in
the field of industrial furniture design.
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