The famous Christmas carol by Lowell Mason reminded me of my wish that design, very much like music would be more of an accumulation of creativity than an eternal re-inventing. (Mason used parts of Haendel's Messiah to "compose" the music to Isaac Watts' text) and that we as designers, in order to serve the user better, would be allowed to improuve on products without being accused of lack of originality or worse.
It made me wonder: "what is your "design" wish for the new year?"
Before
we move on, I'm intrigued by your idea, Koen. Certainly it reflects the most "natural" (in a Darwinian sense) kind of design process, doesn't it ?
By way of example, this sprightly little Windsor (?) chair came into a cabinet shop I worked at, fifteen years ago, for a repair. After I did the work, I photographed it, because it was certainly the most comfortable unupholstered chair I have sat in. I wish I had taken some measurements.
Doesn't this represent the kind of object that evolves over time, with each maker contributing what he can to the evolution -- or at least the attempt, universal and repeated, to do it justice ?
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Heavens Sings
Major design wish for me is...
more sustainable design that eventually eliminates the need for raw materials...especially those utilizing chemicals. these design cannot fall into the cliched "green" style, must be durable... I would be most pleased if this was focused on mass produced and consumed goods. i want to feel good about capitalism again.
SDR that's a pretty chair! those B/W photos are romantic. Reminds me of a captains style or morris style chair purchased this past summer. I too was surprised and amazed at the level of comfort.
Thanks,
Woof. The flare from the sunlight in the floor beyond was unexpected. Just record shots with the old Nikomat (Japanese model). I think the crest rail might have been altered on this chair ? And now I notice the odd way the arm posts are stabilized by a member under the seat. . .
I suppose Mr Wegner must have been informed by chairs like this, or their Scandinavian equivalent ?
No raw materials ? Aren't all materials "raw" ? Do you mean only recycled material ? I never thought of that possibility. . .
How about we redesign the Windsor as a DA project?
Let's just build on it.
Take the homely bulges out of the legs. Make cast the out of aluminum
Maybe carbon fiber for the dowels in the back.
Emulate the surface shape of the arms, but not the thickness of them, using pressed wood from that current (Danish?) company koen mentioned one time that does all incredible wood bends.
Recapture all the ergonomy of the surfaces of the chair in contemporary materials.
I'd like a new modern version of this chair...better in every way, but built up on it, rather than turning one's back to it.
HP
Thanks for being my personal editor...original posting repaired. At the moment, a lofty wish (isn't that usually the case?)...but I firmly believe it is obtainable in the near future. I know there are lots of companies practicing this, but not enough on a mass scale of consumer goods. I'm constantly amazed whenever I'm in any large goods store (Target, Wal-Mart, Ikea, OfficeMax, Toy's R Us etc...). Where does all the left overs go? What happens to the "used" products? Not long ago I caught a glimpse into the bowels of a Thrift store stuffing all kinds of things into a trash compactor... was a disturbing sight.
That's a problem of Capitalism...in constant need of growth, and the negative left overs produced. I don't just want to feel good about it, but know its good.
Should we begin
a Windsor chair thread so that Koen's excellent and important question can recieve its due ?
I would like to take up Mr Wilson's thoughts, above, without further hijacking "Joy to the World."
My hope for design is that it will continue to evolve form its roots: appropriate yet inventive use of material for the betterment of citizen consumers AND the universal means of expression of man's inventive and aesthetic spirit -- "in the street" as opposed to "in the museum."
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I still don't understand how a product can be made without raw materials, even if consumables were made from old roadsigns and other cast-offs (the reprocessing alone of these materials would render them much less "green" than you would think)eventually somewhere along the line harvesting and mining has to occur, which industries should have access to raw materials first?
Designers and manufacturers just have to start using better materials, in all senses.
While
wondering if it's actually possible (or even desirable ?) to drastically reduce the number of newly-made products, and switch to a massive product-refurbishment industry, we should state that any re-use, green or not, is better (?) than starting from scratch in manufacturing, from a raw-material-conservation point of view.
And, the matter of unrestrained corporate capitalism has been mentioned; my view is that a realistic and objective analysis of this world-wide entity and phenomenon will reveal a kind of self-generating, self-serving omnivore -- a cancer, of you will ? -- that is perhaps inevitable (given human nature, if not nature itself) but which must be restrained, lest it eat everything on the planet and thus kill off its host. The more powerful this entity becomes, the better it will be at defending itself from regulation.
Is it already too late ?
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