A Learning Place: Image + Word association

In class (IAR 302) wednesday each student was asked to select for images. Each Image was to represent one of four words, Community, Authenticity, Stewardship and Authenticity. The following are the images I chose as well as a discription as to why I chose that Image to represent Community, Authenticity, Stewardship and Authenticity.

I chose this image of an individual speaking to a small crowd, who appears to be giving the speaker their approval. This image is a metaphor for the influence an individual has over the masses or a community. However no matter how influential one may be the true power lies in the hands of the people. From the perspective of a designer I can imagine the man speaking is one of the great architects or interior designers of out time speaking to group of students. The word "starchitect" is thrown around from time to time referring to individuals like Frank Lloyd Wright, Michael Graves, Peter Eiesman, and so on. These people set the standers for what "good design" is. However it is up to the young student designers and the design community at large to evaluate, appreciate and analyze their work. As a side effect these designs or "innovations" of the starchitects design style is then incorporated into the design communities practices.

I chose the image above to represent authenticity. In my opinion there is little that is more true and authentic than nature. It is something that we are and always will be a part of. Many have tried to recreate nature in design. Although nature serves a superior precedent when it comes to form, color, texture and other designed qualities it is not and should not be our goal to create a photo copy of what we see in nature into our designs. What designers should seek to recreate is the spirt of genuineness that nature has.

The image above was chosen to represent innovation. At first glance it appears that nothing about this image is innovative. Clear cutting forrest is something that dates back to the industrial revolution and then again in the suburban sprawl of the 1950s. This image is a reminder that not all technologies are necessarily innovative and that other solutions may need to be explored to consider and idea, technology or process as truly innovative. Our earth is fragile and its recourses are limited. In recent years the idea of sustainability has become more and more popular not just in the design community but in mainstream society. It has become the rule, not the exception to design sustainably.