A good design refers to a style in architecture which allows liberation of movement while ensuring safety, functional, yet memorable, and lastly, designs should at least have a beneficial effect to the people. Design is often neglected and with the arrival of modernity, sometimes, designs are both corrupted and simplified according to the designer's tastes. For instance, good design invokes memories. It should be significant and noteworthy for it to be remembered by the majority. Adults often remember their important memories especially if they were tied to "special places." Children due to their lack of ability to understand the meaning of symbols and letters, some of them tend to connect the significant memories to the places they saw for the first time. For example, an adult woman remembers that she ate ice cream with her father when she was four years old near the majestic Eiffel Tower. Therefore the ability of the children to associate visual imagery to memories becomes their drive to mold and cultivate the environment they deemed suitable to meet their needs in their later life. The process of designing from one’s subconscious or based from the childhood memories produces best results because it gives the builders’ satisfaction and completeness in addition to privacy; it does not only makes a project significant to everyone but also it preserves the memories of the past. (Marcus 89, 92-95). The process of designing from one’s subconscious or based from the childhood memories produces best results because
A good design is also evaluated by simultaneous perceptions which enable the people to actually ‘feel’ their connectedness to the design by experiencing it. For example, a train station such as the Grand Central Station in New York was built in the early 20th century and despite the fact that the building was already 100 hundred year old; its edifice might overwhelm some passengers with its crowded concourses, with variety of noises and voices of the people from different places. The built environment of the Grand Central Station is associated with the rush of modernity and rapid industrialization that occurs even today. (Hiss 4-5). Designing is a collaborative and not only a product of a singular genius. In other words, architectural styles may have or have been influenced by variety of borrowed elements from other cultures or places; most of the times, these images are products of the artist’s observations on their surroundings. A design is collaborative in a sense that if the layout offers freedom of movement and benefit the residents of the community. (Zumthor 39-51; Hart 148) Architecture should not fade into the background; it should be innovative and comfortable to meet the demands of the changing times as well as the financial status of its occupants. It should not be as flamboyant but rather, the edifice should be able to retain the functionality and provide comfort. (Rybczynski 51-75). The concept of good design in architecture has been the goal of many architects for many centuries; they modeled their houses, offices, and the environment into something they like based from the childhood dreams of an important place strongly connected with their younger self. However, for a design to be labeled as a good one architects must ensure that it functional and not meant for aesthetic purposes only; it should be modern and thought-provoking so that it can arouse simultaneous perceptions of the viewers.
WORKS CITED
Hart, Roger. “Containing Children: Some Lessons on Planning for Play from New York City.” Environment&Urbanization 14.2 (2002): 135-148. PDF File.
Hiss, Tony. The Experience of Place. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. PDF File.
Marcus, Clare Cooper. “Environmental Memories.” N.p: N.p: N.d. PDF File.
Rybczynski, W. Home: A Short History of an Idea. New York: Viking, 1986. PDF File.
Zumthor, Peter. Thinking Architecture. 2nd Ed. Boston: Birkhauser, 2006. PDF File.
