Tomás Maldonado

Tomás Maldonado (1922, Buenos Aires, Argentina). Argentine painter, designer and thinker, is considered one of the main theorists of the legendary ”Ulm Model”, a design philosophy developed during his tenure (1955-1967) at the Ulm School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung - HfG) in Germany. "Ulm School of Design | HfG Ulm Archive" [http://www.hfg-archiv.ulm.de/english/the_hfg_ulm/] ] Lindinger, H., (1991), "Ulm Design: The Morality of Objects", Cambridge: The MIT Press.]

Biography

Born in the Argentine city of Buenos Aires, his artistic formation took place at " [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escuela_Nacional_de_Bellas_Artes_Prilidiano_Pueyrred%C3%B3n Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón] " [ [http://www.iuna.edu.ar/institucional/pueyrredon.htm Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón] ] .

The Early Years

In this early period he was invovled with the Argentine Avant Gardes, in fact, he was one of the founders of the painters' movement called "Arte Concreto-Invención".

The Italian Experience

Between 1964 and 1967, in collaboration with his German colleague Gui Bonsiepe he created a system of codes for the design program of the Italian firm "Olivetti" and the department store "La Rinascente". In 1967 he established himself in Milan, continuing to teach in the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature of the University of Bologna, working almost entirely now in philosophy and criticism influenced by semiotics. In one of his last essays, "The Heterodox", he claims that the role of the intellectual is to awaken or reveal the collective conscience.

The Academic Career

• Tomás Maldonado is professor of Environmental Design (Progettazione Ambientale) at Politecnico di Milano University.

• Between 1955 and 1967 he taught at the Ulm School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung: HfG) in Germany. [ [http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi97/pintura-argentina-sigloxx/Maldonadoa.htm Maldonadoa en Espanol] ] . Between 1955 and 1964 he was a Rector of this institution, and the leading contributor to the ”Ulm Model” which Maldonado oriented towards attaining a balance between science and design, and between theory and practice, incorporating planning methods, perceptual theory and semiotics, A description of the approach is his essay entitled, "Ulm, Science and Design".

• In 1965 he became "Lethaby Lecturer" at London Royal College of Arts. The following year, he became a Princeton University's Council of Humanities Fellow. • Between 1967 and 1970 he taught "Class of 1913" at Princeton's School of Architecture.

• Between 1976 and 1984 he worked as full professor of Environmental Design (Progettazione Ambientale) at University of Bologna's Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy [ [http://www.mediamente.rai.it/HOME/BIBLIOTE/biografi/m/maldonad.htm RAI - Italian Public Television] ] .

Works

* Ulm, Science and Design . (1964)
* Industrial Design reconsidered.
* Is Architecture a Text?
* Towards an Ecological Rationalism.
* Technique and Culture, the German debate between Bismarck and Weimar.
* The Heterodoxo (1998).

References