Response to "A Skateboarder's Guide to Architecture or an Architect's Guide to Skateboarding" and "Learning from Las Vegas"

     In "A Skateboarder's Guide to Architecture or an Architect's Guide to Skateboarding", the author raises the question, what is the similarity between those seemingly drastically different two activities. The writer suggests that from skaters, architects could learn that the connection between space and program is shaky; the dynamic relationship between architecture and its users should be noted; and that when architects draw up their design, they should think of the possibility of improvisation by the users. On the other hand, "Learning from Las Vegas" suggests the idea of learning from already existing landscape, Las Vegas; about symbol in space before form in space, how commercial signs work as persuasion connect the drivers to the store, et cetra. Both of the writings talk about how architecture could encompass and produce meanings not on the simple outward layer. Between the two writings, the one which left more striking impression on me was "A Skateboarder's Guide to Architecture or an Architect's Guide to Skateboarding" because I thought it cuts to the heart of problems made in Korean architecture of today. In Korea these days, architecture seems to be completely forgetting about how it is actually the real people who live everyday lives that communicate with the buildings and places. Instead, architects and investors simply focus on making the architecture's outward appearance as grand and pompous as possible; which results in architecture that is quite useless and sometimes even inconvenient and harmful to its real users. I think Bobby Young's writing has something to suggest to this tendency in architecture in Korea these days.  

My favorite design

My favorite design the <I love NY> design by Milton Glaser.

This design has been originally made in 1977 to promote tourism in New York City. Ever since, this design has been fervently loved by so many people that it appeared in souvenir shops and brochures throughout the state for years, and the white t shirts with this logo printed on it sold with major success and widely circulated the appearance of the image which turned it into a commonly recognized symbol.

People from all over the world have loved this design for its simplicity and its style, and I also do like it very much. However, that is not the reason I have picked it as my favorite design.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks on the New York city, Glaser created a modified version of this design to commemorate the attacks, which wrote “I love NY more than ever” with a little black spot on the heart symbolizing the world trade center site. The black spot approximates the site’s location on lower Manhattan island. The poster was printed in the New York Daily News and was a fundraiser for New York charities supporting those affected by the attacks. Many people have actually been consoled by this design tremendously, and got help of regaining love for their city thanks to this.

I thought, after seeing this, that this is the way that a design should be. This I love NY design was not only made to create financial profits, but to actually touch, and comfort the minds of people who have experienced traumatizing events. There are numerous ideas and theories about design, but more than anything, I think it should be something that is actually “for” the people, and this is the reason I have picked this as my favorite design.

Good Design vs Bad Design

The good design I chose was a water filter from Britta. The design of the filter is very simple, and when one looks at it, he or she could understand the method of using it. All one has to do to filter the water is to just open the cover and put water in it. Also, on the cover of the filter, there is a little reminder which shows when to change the filter to a new one. I thought this was very useful for the users since one is really apt to forget such things, and not changing filters on time could do harm to the user's health.

The bad design I chose is a sign post at the bus station. In seoul, the map of the route of the bus in the station does not show which direction the bus is going. So in order to find out the direction of the bus, one has to look it up in the smartphone or ask it to people nearby. One citizen who recognized this problem started putting little arrow shaped sticker on some of these posts in order to help other citizens find their way. The city of Seoul, when hearing this, honored the person as a good citizen but did not do anything afterwards to change the posts. It is a design that is very inconvenient, not accomplishing its role of helping citizens to find their way at all.