They say that if you remember the 1960s, you probably weren't there. Unfortunately, those who were there can't seem to shut up about it. And let's face it, there's nothing more boring than an ageing hippy, except perhaps an ageing hippy who thinks he's smarter than everybody else.
To be fair, the 60s were an interesting time when it came to interior design. Better plastics and the injection-moulding technology to shape them into a variety of forms resulted in interesting designs that still warrant attention.
Many of these designs were heavily influenced by the growing art movement known as 'pop' and its propagation of mass-produced consumer culture.
Pop art drew inspiration from advertising, packaging, comics and television shows of the era. It was deliberately low-brow. Or, as its most famous exponent once said, pop was 'about liking things'. Actually, Andy Warhol said quite a bit, including 'I only eat candy', so he is not to be taken too seriously.
The most famous artistic proponents of pop art, besides Warhol, included Roy Lichtenstein and James Rosenquist.
Warhol, originally a commercial illustrator, became known for screen-printed images of Campbell's soup cans, Marilyn Monroe (above) and Elvis Presley, which were 'a comment on a media saturated culture', as art critic Robert Hughes wrote in his book American Visions.
It's not surprising young industrial and interior designers were keen to adopt this youthful aesthetic. As a reaction against the stark, serious furniture that was built to last a lifetime, many latched on to the idea of cheap, disposable design and in doing so created furniture that was as throwaway as fast fashion. These included De Pas, D'Urbino and Lomazzi, with its PVC Blow chair (1967) - an inflatable seat that became an icon of 60s pop design. Some people (probably under the influence of strange mushrooms) filled their Blow chairs with water and tropical fish. Of course, the fish suffocated. Fortunately, a chair full of dead guppies has never been hip.