Design objects: a key to understand reality

« Do you believe in reality? » With this question French Philosopher and Sociologist Bruno Latour, who has often showed through his articles and publications his deep interest in design issues, starts the first chapter of his book Pandora’s Hope, (Harvard University Press, 1999), in which he discusses how to explore better the reality of science in practical terms. Is design, especially in the acceptation of everyday design objects, a tool to understand reality, in terms of relational communication, pragmatics and aesthetics? How does design affects the new understanding of reality, more and more often influenced nowadays by interactive systems, augmented and simulated environments? What are the consequences determined on people’s lives by such a new landscape of design objects of common use? Starting with outlining the importance of industrial design products, that is to say the majority of our objects of common use and their role in defining reality, as already stated by Designer and Design Theorist Tomás Maldonado, in shaping feelings and identity, we will then analyse the contribution of design in the daily management of perception. Our paper will be mainly centred on how furniture design, especially chairs, can deeply contribute to the construction of human consciousness and values, still in the middle of globalization and new technologies-oriented era. We will also explore further how perception and the common use of design furniture, in the specific determination of chairs, has gradually changed and is still changing in relation to smart materials, interaction tools and body conscious design.