Practical Intuition

Modern scientists and engineers often portray intuition as being heady, unscientific, and useless. Quite to the contrary, intuition is a practical tool that can be applied with scarce resources, immediately impacting well-being.

What scares some people about intuition is its apparent vagueness. People want facts and figures, but often happiness does not result from following the numbers. Complicating the matter, the advent of more evidence-based sciences like neuroscience, biomimicry, and robotics, increasingly emphasize physically measurable phenomenon. These sciences lead us to believe that the answers to all of our problems lie in technological solutions.

In defense of intuition, most human dilemmas remain unaddressed or unsolved by empiricism; it would be impossible to replace all of our intuitions with strict evidence. Often, when we part from the facts, the most enlivening connections are made. These speculative leaps can lead us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and our surroundings.

Here is Wikipedia’s modern definition of intuition. Notice the emphasis on problem solving:

Fractals: Interior Design Concept Boards

Overall view

Perspective view

Kitchen and Office Design Perspectives

A FRACTAL IS “A GEOMETRIC FIGURE, EACH PART OF WHICH HAS THE SAME STATISTICAL CHARACTER AS THE WHOLE.” IN OTHER WORDS, A FRACTAL IS A SHAPE THAT REPEATS ITSELF AT PROGRESSIVELY SMALLER SCALES.

THIS DESIGN’S CONCEPT IS TITLED “FRACTALS” BECAUSE IT SEEKS TO EXEMPLIFY THE CONCEPT OF REPEATING SHAPES.

Form or Function? Neither.

The graduate centre of the London Metropolitan University design by Daniel Libeskind in 2004.

I want to raise alarm over the fact that design today is more concerned with outcomes than with processes. We are fixated with creating designs that emulate those of the past, catering to the way we have lived for decades. This narrow focus on conventions threatens our innovative drive as a society. Design is supposed to be a two way conversation between the possible and the necessary; unfortunately, we ignore innovative solutions in our love affair with the necessary.

Functionalism, the predominant school of architectural thought today, emerged in the late 1800’s. Dictating that form follow function, Functionalism holds that a design’s arrangement aught to cater to the needs of the user. Ignoring our remarkable ability to adapt to novel arrangements, Functionalism is a language of standardization and ergonomics. To the critically thinking designer, the problem with Functionalism soon becomes apparent:  if more than one form can fill a function, how then do we decide which form to use?

Enter Formalism, an opposing school of thought that is about creating a shape or form, afterwards adapting it to suit a function. Formalism’s emphasis is on how the design looks rather than functions. Formalism is the wellspring of design languages from Classicism to Art Nouveau. However, in spite of its apparent freedom from function, all schools of Formalism are wrought with limited prescriptions for “proper” design.

I propose we transcend the paradox between form and function by learning to view design as an ongoing process rather than a closed loop; the process does not end with the designer, but goes on indefinitely. To design in this way requires trust in the design process, and faith in humankind’s ability to adapt to new situations. It requires designers to humble themselves.

The inventor of the blade could not have foreseen the invention of the spear. The computer was a useless arrangement of circuits until techies dreamed of new software. In design as in art, the creator’s intent is irrelevant, it is the user’s adaptations and interpretations that matter.

If School Was Cool…

Here is an intriguing link discussing the design of educational facilities.  The article supports more informal learning environments along with more basic amenities.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663380/what-starbucks-taught-us-about-redesigning-college-campuses