12.28.2008

Blobby vs. Straight?

This paradox has been gnawing at me for some time.

It is a conflict that is wildly apparent at IIT, home of the Miesian box and champion of Rational Thinking, setting student against professor, institution against institution, and Progressive practice against Conventional practice.
We are finally in a technological age when blob can be (arguably) conceived rationally and produced accurately. No more is curve limited to the weird bubble buildings from the sixties, sinuous arcs of concrete cathedrals, or funny little hobbit huts.
My question, however, is what do people prefer? And why?

In landscape, it is obvious that people currently prefer a 'rational curvy.' This is apparent in the way that corners of gardens and yards and fenced off places are never used by people, but are home to dying grass, piles of leaves, or the dark places where the dog likes to lie. Often corners are smoothed out with plantings and mounds of mulch for a more pleasing (and really rather more useful) outdoor space. When was the last time you decided that it would be most fun and effective to play ball or sunbathe along the fence?
Granted, curvy gardens may be more a fad of current landscape architecture than a definitive "innate human preference" though elements of a 'natural' garden have been found throughout the history of landscape design.
Anyways, people will happily scrawl curves and squiggles when drawing "garden" and then just as happily plonk a pointed box in the middle when asked to draw "house."
Why?
Is this only a learned understanding, or is there something inherently attractive about an orthogonal, rectilinear, obviously unnatural habitation?
Do buildings only want to be "regular" because of our chosen materials and the way we use them?
Do you only feel annoyed when decorating an oddly shaped room because all of the pieces are you decorating with were made for a rectilinear space?
Without requiring an entire shift in the design of interior pieces (furniture, plumbing, etc), how do you make curve accessible to everyone?

Any form is possible, but not every form is practical.

And yet, everything I've enjoyed designing in the last few years has been curved. There is something so unsatisfactory in drawing a straight line, and something so liberating about letting the ink fall from a broad sweep of your hand, or letting a curl arch across a space and touch gently beyond.

Curves feel more like poetry, but is poetry for every day?

To Do Checklist

Everything seems ready and set to go... I finally got my payment to the school accepted, my passport picked up, and a have a place to live.

However, I've discovered that getting ready for a big change is something you can never be entirely prepared for; it's just a big, bottomless pit of To-Dos [the list-maker in me is ecstatic. My sanity is not.]

Still yet to do:

-Get a credit card
-Actually pack
-Get one of those converter plug things
-Get rain boots (to be done in Londontown)
-Stock up on currency
-Learn rhino
-Get all of my IDP sorted
-Check the warranty on my computer and get a new battery
-Buy a Eurorail pass


Anyways, I've started the countdown: T - 12 days.

I nearly bought a Bon Voyage shirt from J Crew.