Once in a blue moon an object is produced which almost perfectly fulfills the highest standards of design. In other words, it combines usefulness, beauty and economy in a harmonious whole.
Such an object is the chess set designed in 1923 by Josef Hartwig, http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/personen/josef-hartwig a craft master who headed the stone and wood sculpture workshop at the State Bauhaus in Weimar from 1921 to 1925. It is often referred to as the Bauhaus Chess Set. Hartwig made some changes in the original design and the version which has lasted into contemporary times is somewhat blockier and more modular than the first version. http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=4240
[I was sorry to learn Hartwig was a member of the Nazi party during the Third Reich (1933 - 1945). So far as I could find on the Internet, this was disclosed only on the Bauhaus site shown above, obviously attributable to a special German sensitivity in this area. As is true in music and art, there appears to be no correlation between high accomplishment or genius and moral character.]
In any event, Hartwig's design has all the qualities one could want except possibly a true essentiality of function for the most important life purposes. After all, chess is a game and not something needed for survival. That aside, it achieves a perfection of its particular play function by using the shapes of the pieces to convey their movement on the board; it has a good measure of beauty in the simplicity of the shapes and it has a notable economy (at least originally) in the use of basic wood forms.
Ironically, if you want to buy a modern version of this masterpiece you have to pay about $300 for the pieces and $200 for the board. They are made by Naef, a Swiss toy producer which does high-quality woodworking. But I can see no justification for these kingly prices. I believe part of it may be due to heavy royalties demanded by the Hartwig estate. Perhaps part of it is due to the mistaken notion that "designer" objects should cost more than "non-designer" objects. This is the opposite of what should be the case. At its best, design should make objects less expensive and more accessible than before.
In any event, Hartwig's design has all the qualities one could want except possibly a true essentiality of function for the most important life purposes. After all, chess is a game and not something needed for survival. That aside, it achieves a perfection of its particular play function by using the shapes of the pieces to convey their movement on the board; it has a good measure of beauty in the simplicity of the shapes and it has a notable economy (at least originally) in the use of basic wood forms.
Ironically, if you want to buy a modern version of this masterpiece you have to pay about $300 for the pieces and $200 for the board. They are made by Naef, a Swiss toy producer which does high-quality woodworking. But I can see no justification for these kingly prices. I believe part of it may be due to heavy royalties demanded by the Hartwig estate. Perhaps part of it is due to the mistaken notion that "designer" objects should cost more than "non-designer" objects. This is the opposite of what should be the case. At its best, design should make objects less expensive and more accessible than before.
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