When it comes to pushing tradition aside to experiment with design, few masters have landed in revelatory new turf without some fundamental screw-ups. From the re-worked to the lost causes, these noble but problematic attempts at innovation are united only in what can be learned from their processes.
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Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright (1937)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski A modernist weekend home built over a waterfall in the mountains of Pennsylvania, Fallingwater was defined by three floors cantilevered from a central stone—an idea inspired by pine branches. “The cantilevers were not merely structural explorations, but in service of a larger idea about the creation of an open plan, a seamless relationship between the interior and exterior and subsequently between architecture and nature,” says Nader Tehrani, dean of Cooper Union’s Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture.
What’s the problem?
After its completion in 1937, humidity and sun exposure led to mold and cracks. Yet the greatest challenges consistently revolved around the cantilevers. By 2001, the landmark was on the verge of collapse, with the topmost beam bearing down on the floor below. Wright’s unprecedented masterpiece led to breakthroughs that would influence far more complex structures in the future. “Even more is learned about this building after the extensive analysis of [engineer] Robert Silman, whose restoration work is a mastery of forensic revelation,” adds Tehrani. Since the home was entrusted to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in the early 1960s, more than 5 million visitors have toured it.
What’s it worth?
Priceless. But when adjusted for inflation, the total $155,000 cost of the house is equivalent to $2.78 million in 2019.
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Aston Martin Lagonda by William Towns (1976)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski With the British marque on the brink of bankruptcy, rolling out a super-luxury car seemed like the only way to save it. Everything about this $150,000 vehicle was bold, but mostly, technology was the big tease, with three-position seat memory, the industry’s first digital dashboard and controls that were initially touch- and heat-sensitive.
What’s the problem?
Talk about an across-the-board bust. Not only was the sedan panned for its looks, it was also plagued with electrical problems. The LED digital dashboard was nearly impossible to see in daylight. The seat memory had a mind of its own. And those heat-sensitive controls? Not practical for cars parked in the sun (think windshield-wiper activation). Production ended by 1989 with fewer than 650 produced.
What’s it worth?
The best can bring $150,000; one with gremlins, $25,000.
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First Chair by Michele De Lucchi for Memphis (1983)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski Memphis, the radical Italian design collective, was all about ditching modernist austerity for a mishmash of shapes and colors. Instead of armrests, there were balls of lacquered wood. Instead of a backrest, a circular metal disk. People went bananas for De Lucchi’s bold form, color and spirit at the chair’s premiere, at the 1983 Salone del Mobile.
What’s the problem?
The chair required something of its users: re-learning how to sit. “People would circle it like it was an insect. ‘What is this?’” recalls Lorry Parks Dudley, the national distributor for Memphis in 1983 and founder of the Modern Archive. “We would show them how to sit with a bit of a slouch, the ends of their elbows resting on top of the balls.” At roughly $600, the chair proved too expensive for mass production. But it did inspire a sense of freedom among designers.
What’s it worth?
A staple in design museums, the chairs typically start at $1,150.
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Armadillo Boot by Alexander McQueen (2009)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski Handmade in Italy, the 11.8-inch-high boot required four zips to secure it on the foot. The 21 pairs, which were never intended for commercial sale, combined claw-like menace with the beauty of a ballerina en pointe. When asked about the boot, the designer stated, “The world needs fantasy, not reality. We have enough reality today.”
What’s the problem?
They were nearly impossible to walk in. Models terrified of face-planting on the runway were assured that falling would simply be part of the spectacle if it happened. “It’s difficult to create an entirely new shoe form, but McQueen has done it here,” Victoria and Albert Museum senior curator Claire Wilcox has said. Traces of the Armadillo can be found in Christian Louboutin’s Ballerina Heels and the towering Noritaka Tatehana design Lady Gaga wore for 2011’s “Marry the Night” video.
What’s it worth?
When three pairs were auctioned by Christie’s in 2015, Gaga’s then fiancé, Taylor Kinney, shelled out $295,000 for all of them.
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The Panton Chair by Verner Panton (1959/60)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski Sometimes known as the “S Chair,” the $75 legless and stackable design was heralded as the world’s first chair manufactured entirely of brightly colored molded plastic—one whole piece of it, at that. “Most people spend their lives living in dreary, gray-beige conformity, mortally afraid of using colors,” said Panton, one of Denmark’s most influential 20th-century furniture designers. This chair provoked the imagination. Just look at its profile, which offers the illusion that it’s sprouting from the floor.
What’s the problem?
In a classic case of trial by error, years were spent reconciling the limits of plastics technology with the bold contours Panton was after. When thermoplastics were introduced in 1979 to minimize costs, the chair began to snap, causing a production halt. It would take Panton 11 years to remedy. Still, the critically acclaimed piece managed to capture the spirit of the Swinging ’60s while ushering in a new age of furniture design. Chairs got weirder.
What’s it worth?
Still handmade in Switzerland by its original manufacturer, Vitra, the chair retails for $1,715.
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Lamborghini Countach by Marcello Gandini (1974)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski Taking its name from the word contacc, a Piedmontese expression of amazement, the $72,200 two-seat coupe with an ultra-wide body and flat, trapezoidal surfaces was radically futuristic. In addition to scissor-style doors, the Countach situated the passengers farther up, in a “cab forward” design, so the engine could be rear-mounted. No chassis was more groundbreaking in all postwar design.
What’s the problem?
Forget about trying to effectively park one of these beauties. Rear visibility was terrible and often required drivers to open the door to gauge the backing-up process. There was also virtually no interior space, and at speed, the front end lifted like a cruise missile. Though the car has been labeled by some as “The Best Worst Car Ever Made,” the Countach helped establish Lamborghini as a luxury sports car leader in the 1970s and 1980s.
What’s it worth?
A good early LP400 “Persicopio” can top $1 million.
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Guangzhou Opera Center by Zaha Hadid (2010)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski Conceived as two rocks washed away by the Pearl River, Hadid’s 1,800-seat main performance hall in China’s Guangdong Province is made from freestanding concrete set within a glass-clad steel frame, which uses fluid form to evoke a feeling of vast openness and possibility. The highly ambitious complex took five years to complete. Hadid’s design principles matched China’s focus on modernization. “Such a project would probably not have been able to happen in the United States,” says Cooper Union dean Nader Tehrani, noting that emerging cultural voices such as Asia, South America and parts of the Middle East are able to test out new systems of construction that the West won’t.
What’s the problem?
Large cracks appeared in the walls, rain seeped in and glass panels fell from the windows—the fault of the architect or the construction company?—but ultimately, it isn’t Hadid’s most highly regarded creation.
What’s it worth?
The construction tab was approximately $200 million.
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iPhone 4 by Steve Jobs (2010)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski Touted as the world’s thinnest smartphone, the $599 16 GB device from Apple had a stainless-steel frame with a longer antenna threaded through the phone. It also introduced software innovations such as FaceTime and the first front-facing camera on an iPhone.
What’s the problem?
The antenna was placed where a person’s fingers naturally fall, so the location of a user’s hand could cause major reception issues. Jobs’s initial response—telling customers not to hold the phone a certain way or to buy a case that would prevent the problem—sparked outrage. Moving forward, the 4S featured upgraded dual antennae that remedied the flaw.
What’s it worth?
They are floating around eBay for up to $170, used.
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Hot Bertaa Kettle by Philippe Starck (1987)
Image Credit: Peter Oumanski A postmodern sculpture for the stovetop, the kettle was comprised of a bullet-shaped cast-aluminum body with a tapering polyamide tube that functioned as spout, steam outlet and handle. When offered the chance to collaborate with Italian manufacturer Alessi, which had previously worked with Michael Graves and Richard Sapper, Starck said he felt pressured to be “extraordinary, to show all my talent.”
What’s the problem?
A train wreck of form over function, it offered no way of gauging the water level. Plus, the handle positioned fingers dangerously close to the hot kettle while jetting hot steam toward the user. Production ceased in 1997, with some of the originals landing permanent homes in design museums. Alberto Alessi has described the kettle, which took five years to develop, as “our most beautiful fiasco.” Starck has called it “one of my worst pieces ever.”
What’s it worth?
If you can find it online, the Hot Bertaa tends to sell for $300 to $500.
