Common sense & quality, are the difference between great and mediocre, wow and WOW, a project and a draft, design and mere [mindless] production, extraordinary and pretentious, waste and investment. When something is lacking design, excuses arrive fast, and try to take the place of content. Do not mistake diversion-attempted-arguments with passion. The anything-goes ideology and infinite-niche market does not mean you get a license to kill, or in this case, a license to suck...
After last week's congress, i haven't been able to stop thinking about this great example:
The first project product is a deluxe 1000 sqm villa, in Mongolia, China. So why on earth would you give it less spatial quality than that which can be found in low-budget social housing? Oh, that's right, it is a "diagonal" for "introverted" living! Does introverted mean you should not get to see the sky? Does introverted cover for natural sunlight, or having back-alleys instead of gardens? Does the diagonal concept cover up for using a monotonous floor slab section that makes every space the same? To what degree should a sketch or model be allowed to hold you back instead of pushing you forward? In a worst case scenario, form should add quality to the space [but by no means are subtractions allowed!]. Also, in a worst case scenario, hiring a designer should add value to the equation, not turn it into an under-performing solution. Production can easily turn unique into disappointing, the icon builds mediocrity.
The second image is a designer's version [aka: project/strategy] of introverted housing, in Fukuoka, Japan... With less budget, square meters per unit, but more hunger, passion, restrictions, and actual design... Quality is delivered by varying height spaces within each unit, allowing the whole place to hold natural light. Organized so that they don't block other unit's view, and that makes for an interesting iconic silhouette... When you focus your resources at a strategy beyond solving architectural problems [from restrictions you impose on yourself as a gimmicky concept], and use them to find potential for design, it makes a [huge] difference. Design can make something simple very special, performance breeds the icon.
How to disregard context, allow for introverted living while maximizing spatial quality, therefore breeding an icon within the contemporary mindset? IAM thinking of something like this...
Designers 1 - 0 Producers... Please engage in leading design head-on, instead of just hiding behind a factory's production line.
HAVE FUN!!!
