Form v. Function, Forever
Weíve been stroking our collective chin over Patrick Smithís broadside on the aesthetic flaws of the new Airbus A380 for a over a week now. Weíve also been cogitating on Felix Salmonís response:
I do hold out some romantic hope that an ugly design can never be the best design; that something truly efficient is likely also to be good-looking. Maybe the A380 isn’t ugly because it’s efficient. And just maybe there’s a solution out there which would have made it both better-looking and cheaper to construct and operate.
Maybe. In any case, all of this takes us to the ìform follows functionî debate that has been haunting the world of architecture and design since the 19th century and continues to rage as you read this. Just ask superstar architect Frank Gehry, currently being sued by his ex-friends at MIT for one of his flamboyant, but apparently other than practical, designs. (And, as John Maeda points out, the ultimate 20th century architectural superstar, Frank Lloyd Wright, could be downright arrogant on the subject. Function be damned.)
As an engineering and industrial design firm operating in the real world, this is a needle that we have to thread on a daily basis. Itís important to design products that are aesthetically pleasing; consumers will always prefer a pretty product to an ugly one. Itís essential to design something that actually works and doesnít create grief; no one will tolerate a product that ruins their day. And, finally, itís utterly crucial for our work to make business sense ó otherwise, functional or not, beautiful or not, it will never find its way to the market. Three hard-to-please taskmasters, but we manage it.
Itís all trade-offs and the three-way balancing act is not always equal ó though it should be. Some products skate by entirely on beauty and offer only mediocre functionality. If youíve ever driven a Jaguar from the 1980s or early nineties, youíll know what weíre talking about, but thatís a poor trade-off and Jaguar ultimately paid the price ó but not before countless wealthy buyers were seduced by the old Jagís gorgeous lines. Conversely, the Airbus 380 may be ugly on the outside, but if it offers flyers a good enough experience for their money and provides airlines with smooth operation, Patrick Smith may find himself a voice in the wilderness.
Also, kind of off the subject, but kind of on it, we loved this video about motion-control artist Bruce Shapiro ó a lucky (and very talented) guy whose main job is just to look good.
H/T: Core 77 and CoolHunting.