Brexit: the EU Referendum should never have happened according to German designer Konstantin Grcic, who said the decision by Britain’s former prime minister David Cameron to host the vote was criminal.
Grcic told Dezeen he was shocked by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), but that there was no going back.
“Brexit is a real shock. I think Mr Cameron made a mistake putting this vote about something so essential, important [to the public],” he said at the opening of the London Design Biennale.
“He used it for his own purposes of staying in power, and that’s shocking, really shocking, criminal,” he said.
The industrial designer made the comments at the opening of the first London Design Biennale, the same place where Dezeen launched the Brexit Design Manifesto earlier this week.
Related story: Read Dezeen’s Brexit Design Manifesto
The manifesto calls on the British government to support the design section after the UK leaves the EU. It highlights the key issues that the government must address to protect the future of the sector and enable it to grow.
Grcic described the EU as a utopia where different cultures peacefully co-exist. He worries that Britain’s exit is jeopardising this harmony.
“The craziest thing was that it was a vote and there’s no turning back,” he said. “I think people thought they could vote [to leave the EU] and then all protest and say we didn’t mean to.”
“There shouldn’t have been a vote in the first place and of course it’s the populist people, the ones that shouted the loudest for Brexit, who got the votes.”
“I think its tragic and we will see how you come out of it,” he added.
But Grcic said that architects and designers across Europe would not be be putting off collaborating despite threats to their freedom of movement.
Grcic is representing Germany at the first London Design Biennale. The theme for the exhibition is Utopia by Design, which Grcic said he found challenging to physically represent.
His installation features one white room and one black room intended to allow visitors to project their own interpretation of utopia on the space.
Today, the government’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee launched an inquiry into the impact of Brexit on the creative industries with a call for written submissions.
Over 150 British designers have already signed Dezeen’s Brexit Design manifesto. Among them are world-famous industry figures including Terence Conran, Richard Rogers, Thomas Heatherwick, Tom Dixon, Ross Lovegrove, Jasper Morrison, John Pawson, and Barber and Osgerby.
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