In 100% agreement with this speech (video) by designer Ilse Crawford—”Being Human.” Only 1.27% of our DNA differs from the DNA in chimps, and design has to keep that in mind. Every single person coming through the door of your place will head for the most comfortable chair. Original video is here.
StudioIlse designed the Grand Hotel restaurant in Stockholm, even though Crawford doesn’t consider herself a designer. Vancouver restaurant designers, not to mention every other space designer, should watch this. Crawford specializes in “spaces that are smelt heard and felt.” I’m always amazed by the discomfort, unnecessary generic poshness, auditory din and general unhumanness of most public and private spaces. I like that she talks about “love not status.” She has done both high end and affordable housing design (see bottom) and I like the section in Part 6 about designing for affordable London flats—you can do better design with smaller budgets than larger sometimes, if you do it right. I like her comments on simpler kitchens and doing without ugly built in cupboards and using curtain wall instead. I may not like all the designs in the video but I like the arguments.
I love the bit about the difference between the dirty carpet at Heathrow and the wooden floor at Copenhagen’s airport, and what those two things tell you about the country you’re finding yourself in.
At bottom, an affordable hotel room in a small pub hotel, UK.
Via DesignIndaba