I have enjoyed the first two Design Dialogue lectures and was glad each had different yet equally important messages.
With a main expertise in architecture, William Tate began with a comparison of caustic versus benign grids. This alludes not only to overdeveloping human living spaces but to all design that is for the wrong reasons. I think this gives new meaning to the area of “sustainable” design to be more than just environmentally friendly work but design that is timeless and will benefit its users for years to come. In proudly describing his newborn architecture school Umbau, Tate promoted being assertive and ambitious when networking and to not be afraid to start a dialogue with designers whose work you admire. For me his closing emphasis was on shifting the motives of design to worthwhile causes.
Dan Boyarski opened with the notion that “design is the first sign of human intention.” His numerous quotations from Herb Simon’s “Sciences of the Artificial” emphasized intention in design, or asking ourselves exactly what we are improving upon before jumping into a project. This idea of knowing “the current state” well and making “an existing situation into a preferred one” reminded me of Malcolm Grear’s advice to know your client inside and out in order to make the best possible result. Boyarski spoke, too, to the instructors in the audience and called for more collaboration across disciplines as new technology empowers us to visualize others’ work digitally and in other dynamic, industrious ways. I also really appreciated his remarks about preserving “beauty” in our work even though aesthetic decisions should be practical.
On a completely unrelated note, I came across this short animation on Yuxt.com that combines Alisa’s handwritten text for the SECAC introductions with Andrew’s animated skateboarding motions and thought I’d share:
http://yuxt.com/videos/215340
