Design Definition
Last week I pondered design in the sense of art versus functionality, this spurred some other thoughts in my head about, what is design really. My own definition of design is: The process of uniting ideas to form a physical space that fulfills its program of requirements, and inspires its user. The last part "inspires its user" is what is lacking from most spaces today. This separates engineering from design. I think it is the charge of designers to generate a form that brings forth an inspiration. I would rather be offended by a space or building than unaware and complacent, because it generated an opinion of the space. The firm I currently work at, does not design, most of our designs meet their program requirements, yet mos tof it seems unispired. This to me is very depressing, I want to work in a place where I am excited about design, and not bored by autocad. This is easier said than done, as autocad is a necessary evil, but I think design needs a boost in the public's mind, so it is not just an idle thought. People should know what to look for, just like they discuss politics, they should discuss design.
Nomadic Museum - Art melding with Design
Can art and design be one, or do they always sit on the edge of each other? Through my schooling and personal experiences, I have always looked for this connection, but struggle to see it in built form much less my own ideas. I see architects and landscape architects attempting to be artists, but many times at the cost of function. Landscape Architects have an opportunity to work with art, design, and engineering, yet our most acclaimed art (Landscape Art Installation) is just that, art installed. I itch to find something that is a perfect blend of both. Opposite there are designers and engineers that focus strictly on cost, efficiency, and function at the expense of expression. I rarely see an expression of art with a seamless fucnctionality. I recently read and visited the "Nomadic Museum". This is a temporary museum that is currently visiting at the Santa Monica Pier. The museum was designed by Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect and sculptor. The museum was designed and built specifically for the exhibit; "Ashes and Snow" by Gregory Colbert. Santa Monica is the second stop on its world tour. In my mind this is an example of design and function melding into an artistic blend.
The museum uses suprisingly simple materials in its construction, 108 empty containers from container shipping, and paper tubes to form a 56,000 square foot exibition space. Yes, the kind of paper tube you get your toilet tissue from. These two simple materials sound unasethetic and not something that would be artistic, however they really accomplish two goals, they create a physical space worthy of being a exhibition space, and at the same time their simplicity combines to make a sculpture in itself. This maybe the first real perfect meld of form and function. The Ashes and snow exhibition within the Nomadic Museum, is a surreal submersion into a world of photography, and, video, while being stimulated through audible sound and music. It will be in Santa Monica until May 14, when it continues on to Brasil, Japan, Australia, and Europe. www.ashesandsnow.com/exhibition/
The Great Park - Destined to fail or?
Irvine is spearheading a 1300-4000 acre redevelopment of an ex marine airstrip here in Orange County. This could be the defining space of the OC, or it could just be more sprawl. They just selected Landscape Architect Ken Smith of New York to do the Master Design. OCGP Selects Ken Smith who was amongst some heavy hitters, Olin, Hargraeves, Haag, and 2 offices from Spain. I was slightly disturbed on the selection process, I looked at some of the entries, and they all looked pretty rudimentary for a project of this stature and prestige. Link to Design Concepts at OCGP The city councilmen traveled to many different cities looking for examples of work and for inspiration. One councilman swayed the vote after, "Visiting the 9-11 monument park by Smith, and coming to tears." Do tears = good park design, maybe, but I think the selection should have been made on the conecpt of the park, not on the tears of one council man. Smith is a good selection, I just hope he can handle something of this vast scale and complexity.
I find this pretty interesting; I listen to NPR, and on the show "Which Way LA", Ken Smith compares this park to Yosemite. I think it has potential, but fear it will miss his design goal, he is from a dense city where Central Park is a jewel, in OC everything is spread out and people think differently. It will be fun to follow, and maybe in the future work on projects related to it. There was a letter to the editor in the paper; following are my cynical thoughts.
In my outsider opinion, having just moved to the area, this park is the gift of the region to all those who shot down CentreLine and the Airport. Here is a gift certificate for 400 million, forget our real problems of transportation, education, and water quality. Lets build a giant playground so we can pretend to have a balboa.
Atleast people won't drive their H2's to San Diego in the future, just to the ITC parking lot. Not for the Metrolink of course... ;)
"Few seem to question Smith's creativity; it's the practical work of assembling such a big project that likely will keep Great Park Corp. board members nervous for a few years."
Smith is the designer in this effort; he should hire an excellent program manager to do the implementation planning and day-to-day management under Smith's artistic guidance. The designer of Canberra, the American from Chicago, Walter Burley Griffen, had no exterior planning forces to work with, however he had to move to the Austrialian Continent for 15 years to see out his design, which in the end was hardly realised, and he was castrated from the mainstream design world afterwards.
If you read a detailed account of how other very large and diverse projects were carried out (for example, the Chicago exposition of c. 1890) I think you will see that the creative folks (like Smith) are seldom good at managing the implementation process; they should oversee it to ensure appropriate design content, but not do the real day-to-day management of it. The roles are entirely different.
We will see how this park comes together or doesn't.
