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Frank Chimero · Designing in the Borderlands

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In April 2014, I was invited to speak at Harvard University by the Graduate School of Design. Thanks to Craig Mod and Rob Giampietro for listening as I developed these ideas. Today, I want to begin by pointing to the writer Italo Calvino, and more specifically, a small book of his named Six Memos for the Next Millennium. In 1985, Harvard invited Calvino to participate in the Norton Lectures, and he chose to share what he considered the six ideal qualities of literature. The memos were written in preparation for the talks, but Calvino suddenly died on the eve of his scheduled departure for Cambridge. The last memo on consistency remained unwritten, but the rest were published a few years later as Six Memos in their unresolved entirety. I’d like to share a quote from the first memo on lightness, which has been on my mind the past few weeks. Calvino wrote: I’m not in a position to fret about humanity’s condition, but I do sympathize with Calvino’s desire to shed weight. Design has become

In April 2014, I was invited to speak at Harvard University by the Graduate School of Design . Thanks to Craig Mod and Rob Giampietro for listening as I developed these ideas. Today, I want to begin by pointing to the writer Italo Calvino, and more specifically, a small book of his named Six Memos for the Next Millennium. In 1985, Harvard invited Calvino to participate in the Norton Lectures , and he chose to share what he considered the six ideal qualities of literature. Lightness Quickness Exactitude Visibility Multiplicity Consistency The memos were written in preparation for the talks, but

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