Don't be afraid to ask!
Everyone has sat on a park bench, opened the door to a bathroom, or walked down a city sidewalk and thought to themselves, “who would think this was a good idea?” Bad design can be obvious when it seems to defy all logic. Sometimes this is the result of out of touch designers or architects. If the rhythms of everyday life should be the motivators for design decisions, how can architects and urban planners effectively design a city with this in mind? This is the primary question that Margaret Crawford discusses in her text, Everyday Urbanism. Crawford writes that, “Not surprisingly, since everyone is potentially an expert on everyday life, everyday life has never been of much interest to experts. Lefebvre pointed out that although experts and intellectuals are embedded in everyday life, they prefer to think of themselves as outside and elsewhere.” If everyone is an expert on everyday life, how do architects reach the experts of every community? Each person who lives in a city experiences it in a particular way, but that doesn’t mean that their experience is unique to them. Crawford points out that a city looks different to a pedestrian, biker, or car driver. Nonetheless, there is still a group of bikers, car drivers, and pedestrians who have a similar experience. Maybe if architects could identify the major categories of people in a city that could be affected by a project, they could design for each of them by asking them how they operate. No need for them to assume anything, designers could take a survey or go around and ask people what they think. If each project from a park bench to a skyscraper was thought about this way, all projects would come together to create a city built for everyday life. There is no formula for making a great design, but each situation has to be individually assessed for a solution that takes into account the most important thing, common sense.
Zoe, I completely understand your thought process. It goes back to our variety of discussions within this class that challenges the consideration of user experience or functionality when architects design a new space. Obviously, we don't always know how a space will be perceived by the public beforehand, but when there is little research done- an architect is left less than satisfied with a completely unrelated design to their initial intentions. THAT'S WHY THE CLIENT / USER IS SO IMPORTANT.
ReplyDeleteZoe, I love the image you chose. I think it shows how sometimes we don't prioritize the spaces that people desire the most. And sometimes we do not think about the essential needs of the users- such as having water fountain or water bottle refill stations more centrally located on buildings on campus. We as architects also often make the design too complicated for the user to where they do not understand how it functions or how best to use it and then the spaces become barren and empty.
ReplyDeleteIn theory every design project should be done the way you describe it. Unfortunately Architects are not provided with resources(In most cases Fund) to do these studies and fulfill the needs of every user. Though architects have higher social responsibilities, they are very limited with resources to explore the possibilities. Architects' position in civilization has changed drastically and we now try to satisfy only the client. Nothing more or nothing less.
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