10x2+1
Lately, most of my non-fiction reading has been focused on the aesthetics of sustainable design. Too often, I find myself bemoaning the seeming supremacy of technology over design. The relentless number-crunching of sustainable design has prioritized science - building science, to be specific. And, why not? Architects have been doing a pretty good job of prioritizing aesthetics over science for a while (too long?) leaving a broad wake of questionably performing buildings.
The presentation of my thoughts is two ten item lists and one excerpt. As I struggled to craft this piece (trust me, it’s always a struggle when it comes to writing for me!), I found myself constantly returning to two lists of ten principles, Dieter Rams’ “The Ten Principles of Good Design” and Lance Hosey’s “A Beauty Manifesto - Ten Principles”. The final excerpt is from Robert Geddes’ book, “FIT: an architect’s manifesto”.
THE TEN PRINCIPLES OF GOOD DESIGN, Dieter Rams.
Dieter Rams is one of the most influential product designers of the twentieth century. You may not immediately recognize the name, but you have used one of the radios, clocks, juicers, lighters or hundreds of other products he designed, mostly for Braun. His list addresses product design. For a direct translation to architecture, you can substitute the word “building” for the word “product”.
Good Design Is Innovative - The possibilities for innovation are not by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.
Good Design Makes A Product Useful - A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
Good Design Is Aesthetic - The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
Good Design Make A Product Understandable - It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.
Good Design Is Honest - It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really it is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
Good Design Is Unobtrusive - Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.
Good Design Is Long-lasting - It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years - even in today’s throwaway society.
Good Design Is Thorough Down To The Last Detail - Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
Good Design Is Environmentally Friendly - Good design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Good Design Is As Little Design As Possible - Less but better - because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with inessentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity!
Excerpted from “Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible” by Sophie Lovell. Phaidon Press Ltd. 2011.
A BEAUTY MANIFESTO, Lance Hosey.
Lance Hosey is a nationally recognized architect, designer and writer. He is President & CEO of GreenBlue, a nonprofit that works to make products more sustainable. He is a former Director with William McDonough + Partners.
TEN PRINCIPLES for advancing an aesthetics of ecology. Every designer everywhere can:
Bridge the divide between “good design” and “green design”.
Turn beauty and sustainability into the same thing.
Erase the distinction between how things look and how things work.
Break down the walls between the arts and sciences.
Adopt the three principles”
Conserve: Shape things to respect resources.
Attract: Shape things to be easy to use and deeply satisfying.
Connect: Shape things to embrace place.
Start with the napkin sketch, not the technical manual.
Develop a scientific method for design.
Strengthen the ties between form and performance, between image and endurance.
Make things to work as well and to last as long as they should.
Make things better.
Excerpted from “The Shape Of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology and Design” by Lance Hovey. Island Press. 2012.
FIT, Robert Geddes.
Robert Geddes is an architect, urbanist and teacher. He is dean emeritus of the Princeton School of Architecture. The AIA honored his professional firm for its “design quality, respect for the environment and social concern.”
We need a more inclusive architecture. It must fit the here and now.
It must be fit for future possibilities.
It must fit.
What does it mean, “fit the here and now”? It is the opposite of “architecture for its own sake.” It is engaged with social and environmental conditions. It is profoundly political. It is connected to arts and humanities. It works with sciences and technologies. It means architect that is fit for the purpose and fit for the place.
Excerpted from “FIT: an architect’s manifesto” by Robert Geddes. Princeton University Press. 2013.
