>3. The planning of settings rarely foresees disruptions--all those pot
>holes that doom the creation of settings, large or small. Settings
>inevitably become other than what their planners envision. Planners rarely
>adopt the "what if" stance--they rarely seriously and systematically list
>and think through the predicatoable problems that might arise.
And Eugene wrote:
I think successful design of new settings involves open negotiation and
respectful relations rather than ability to forsee distructive consequences.
Or, putting it in another way, I think that respect to participating
communities will guide both the process of negotiating and the process of
forseeing. what do you think?
As Peter said that "the planning of settings rarely foresees disruptions," he
mentions that the planners don't often see the possible "what if" situations
that may arise in a designed space. As an "architect," (I use that term
non-professionally, "designer "may be better suited.) I often find that it is
difficult to foresee the problems that may arise, simply because one does not
know all of the possible problems that could arise. Often times, it is a
decision for the designer to assume certain conditions and design according
to those condtions. Yet, I do agree that the designer should be more
investigative during the design process, which is where I would have to turn
and agree with Eugene. If the designer begins to understand the communities
who will inhabit the space, then, as Eugene said, the designer and the
communities, from the beginning, can foresee any problems that may arise, and
then they can negotiate with the designer to resolve the problem. I feel that
a significant problem with many designers is that they really do not
understand whom they are designing for. What I mean is that the designer
works off of gut feelings and previous experiences to design a project,
rather than addressing the current issues relevant to the design. Simply put,
does the designer really understand the community of the teachers and
students;the users of the space.
At this point, this is my response to the questions posed. All my statements
are presented from the standpoint of an architecture student.
-------------------
Stephen Van Hoose
5th Year Architecture student
RPI School of Architecture
vanhos who-is-at rpi.edu
--------------------