zjpj83
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2004
- Messages
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That's actual the point I've been making the whole time which you've been trying to undermine. Good design is functional, an honest representation of its use and user's need, and simplistic. There are certain places you would expect to find gold interiors with ceiling frescoes featuring angelic themes, like 18th century French castles. One of the last places you'd expect to find it is on the 80th floor of a 1970's high rise building made of steel and tinted glass. You mentioned the tepee vs. the McMansion earlier, but the tepee is the much better home. It's better because it does a better job of improving the life of its user, who needs lightweight portability and weather protection in order to migrate with the buffalo heard.
I agree with everything except that good design is "simplistic." That is not always the case, such as with respect to your 18th century French castle example, or any other sort of palace. "Opulence" - and by this I mean Rococo ornateness - has its place. But, as you suggest, it has no more place in a 1970's high rise building than mid-century modern has in Buckingham Palace.