In your opinions, what are the most difficult or challenging objects, typologies, or spaces to design, big or small...example: chairs, gardens, kitchens, memorials, houses, schools, etc....I realize that the things that you are not used to are of course the most challenging, but generally which types of projects are the most difficult technically and artistically?
Public transit, both as a whole and individual stations.
When you have billions in public money thrown at a large project... everyone wants to have a say and it's hard to convey the value of large infrastructure in terms of future investment and a guide for development to the average layman... let alone the hoard carrying torches and pitch-forks. You're doomed for failure before you start, it seems.
Any work in intent that is moving towards abstract minimalism. You have to be fucking maniacal about keeping projects like that in check (residential, institutional, commercial, doesn't matter).
Every consultant, subcontractor, GC, and owner are the enemy, they want to fuck-up your pure concrete wall with an a couple outlets, j-box, DSL jack, two antique wall sconces, a horrible painting, bad furniture, a shitty TV and a couple cream colored cover plates to boot.
I'm with shuellmi... Your own house. You conspire against yourself if you are any good and want something special because you have to talk yourself out of stuff, accept less than you know is 'the best', and make choices you'd rather you didn't have to... like that cheap contractor, those ratty cabinets, cheap hardware, telling your spouse 'no', telling yourself 'no', etc... And then you get to live in it knowing every single spot you compromised.
Chairs are a bitch. Far easier to design your own house. In either case minimizing compromise is a most difficult goal.
chigurh, it's not just minimalism but any aesthetic that one tries to be scrupulously faithful to.
Non nailed a big one: competing agendas from major players and stakeholders on large projects.
jla-x, constraints are absolutely necessary for design. Faithfulness to one's aesthetic can be a constraint. I view art and design as two separate things.
Well, large gardens/landscapes are really difficult to do well. Almost too much freedom... Haven't been exposed to much other than residential though so my opinion is probably irrelevant ...
The fun challenging ones are hotels with lots of extra facilities - so much back and forth working through the program to get a usable diagram with some character. But I like that.
The frustrating challenging ones are the projects where the client thinks he's a bigshot who can have whatever he wants. But then - turns out - he isn't! And so you've got to keep him happy even despite antagonisms with planning boards / investment partners / the civil airspace management authority (...)
To make it worse, those usually end up being the unbuilt projects. So you've got to get what you can and get out before the relationship goes bad or payments dry up.
Most challenging design
In your opinions, what are the most difficult or challenging objects, typologies, or spaces to design, big or small...example: chairs, gardens, kitchens, memorials, houses, schools, etc....I realize that the things that you are not used to are of course the most challenging, but generally which types of projects are the most difficult technically and artistically?
would you say that you do better with more or less constraints?
Public transit, both as a whole and individual stations.
When you have billions in public money thrown at a large project... everyone wants to have a say and it's hard to convey the value of large infrastructure in terms of future investment and a guide for development to the average layman... let alone the hoard carrying torches and pitch-forks. You're doomed for failure before you start, it seems.
no contest to me - your own home, much harder than someone else's house
Any work in intent that is moving towards abstract minimalism. You have to be fucking maniacal about keeping projects like that in check (residential, institutional, commercial, doesn't matter).
Every consultant, subcontractor, GC, and owner are the enemy, they want to fuck-up your pure concrete wall with an a couple outlets, j-box, DSL jack, two antique wall sconces, a horrible painting, bad furniture, a shitty TV and a couple cream colored cover plates to boot.
I'm with shuellmi... Your own house. You conspire against yourself if you are any good and want something special because you have to talk yourself out of stuff, accept less than you know is 'the best', and make choices you'd rather you didn't have to... like that cheap contractor, those ratty cabinets, cheap hardware, telling your spouse 'no', telling yourself 'no', etc... And then you get to live in it knowing every single spot you compromised.
anything in new york city....
Chairs are a bitch. Far easier to design your own house. In either case minimizing compromise is a most difficult goal.
chigurh, it's not just minimalism but any aesthetic that one tries to be scrupulously faithful to.
Non nailed a big one: competing agendas from major players and stakeholders on large projects.
jla-x, constraints are absolutely necessary for design. Faithfulness to one's aesthetic can be a constraint. I view art and design as two separate things.
Well, large gardens/landscapes are really difficult to do well. Almost too much freedom... Haven't been exposed to much other than residential though so my opinion is probably irrelevant ...
The fun challenging ones are hotels with lots of extra facilities - so much back and forth working through the program to get a usable diagram with some character. But I like that.
The frustrating challenging ones are the projects where the client thinks he's a bigshot who can have whatever he wants. But then - turns out - he isn't! And so you've got to keep him happy even despite antagonisms with planning boards / investment partners / the civil airspace management authority (...)
To make it worse, those usually end up being the unbuilt projects. So you've got to get what you can and get out before the relationship goes bad or payments dry up.
The hardest thing to design is a master bath in a McMansion….10 pounds of shit in a 1 pound bag, and cleaning up the puke while you’re doing it.
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