The inducement of this room was the slouched presentation 'Het Debat’ organised by the Wim Crouwel Institute in 2015. The occasion was the first English translation of a famous 1972 debate between Dutch graphic designers Wim Crouwel and Jan van Toorn, a public clash of subjectivity versus objectivity at Amsterdam’s Museum Fodor that helped set the stage for bold philosophical showdowns to come in design culture: Crouwel defended his approach of neutrality and austere rationalism, attention to typography and worksmanship, and professionalism in service of the client’s message while Van Toorn argued for his use of chaos, collage, and photographs of everyday life; that a designer’s ideas, personality, and political commitments are integral to the work.
The fact that this 1972 debate is a reference that can still be indicated with a simple 'Het Debat’ shows that nothing happened ever since. Hopefully the flame of the debate rekindles and expands in this room.
