Pioneer of Design Theory

Design theorist, historian, art and cultural educator and ‘image maker’ Gert Selle is one of the most influential thinkers in the field of design. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he played a key role in shaping the transition from art education to design education. With his first book, ‘Ideologie und Utopie des Design’ (Ideology and Utopia of Design), he initiated the discourse on design theory, while with ‘Die Geschichte des Designs in Deutschland’ (The History of Design in Germany) (first edition 1978) he founded and established the discipline in the Federal Republic of Germany. He coined many terms, including ‘product language’, and left behind a vast body of writing – monographs, essays, lectures and catalogue contributions spanning five decades.

An exhibition planned for 2026 as part of the World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain in Darmstadt will use artificial intelligence to make his work accessible and continue his thinking into the future. His core theme, our relationship with things, is becoming increasingly complex.

Educator and Cultural Critic

Selle was also influential as a teacher of art and culture. He opposed the practice of ‘art education’, which prevailed until the 1980s, with the concept of ‘aesthetic education’, based on personal experience, which still characterises the discipline today. As a cultural critic, he made a decisive contribution to the preservation of the Völklingen Ironworks, which was earmarked for demolition and became the first industrial monument to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. As a painter, he liberated art from its commodity character by making it contractually available for free use.

On the occasion of Selle’s 90th birthday in December 2023, ndion published a comprehensive tribute by his former student Gerd Ohlhauser.

The intellectual care with which Selle critically accompanied developments in design, art and culture is more important today than ever.