The article critiques minimalism in design, exploring how its celebrated simplicity often masks deeper issues of cultural exclusion and hierarchy. By aligning with Enlightenment values of order and reductionism, minimalism may favor certain aesthetics while sidelining others. Philosophers Foucault and Nietzsche suggest that design serves as a "technology of power," imposing a worldview through structured layouts and refined aesthetics. The concept of neutrality in design is challenged as it overlooks the diverse cultural contexts that are often marginalized by minimalist practices.
Minimalism does not merely organize information; it disciplines it, reflecting a worldview steeped in Enlightenment thinking and cultural dominance.
The aesthetic of minimalism asserts control, telling us what matters by erasing what doesn't, thus creating a subtle cultural hierarchy.
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