Making

Kahn describes making as a method to test the rules of nature. This is true... to make is to fully understand the properties of your design. The really question is how do you "make?" Is this a physical model, conceptual drawings, a conversation amoung friends. These are all forms of making an idea come to life. Is one better then the other?

I have a hard time answering this question. Each method of making is a form of testing the rules because making is all about trying something. It works out sometimes and other times you find that you need to work out some details. Making also brings about a realization into new ways to design or realization of failures. Making is a very important process in design because without testing the rules you can't change the rules.

I great example of making is the "100 Chairs in 100 Days" by Martino Gamper. Gamper's interest are in the psycho-social aspects of furniture design. He uses unwanted objects in mismatched ways to tell a story about people, places, events, techniques, and materials.

Singularity

Kahn describes this as a transition from Silence to Light.  He looks at Singularity as the desire to express.  So can we as designers look at Singularity as the moments we discover what drives our passion?  I think this is when something moves from a silence form into a conceptual reality and desire becomes larger then just the single moment but the force that drives all the decisions.  Thus, singularity becomes that one magnificent moment where all elements aline and the design process begins.  

An image that comes to mind when I think about the idea of Singularity, is a painting by Emily Christenson called Suouagibma.  It is a 45 x 90 oil painting done on canvas.  The piece resembles a moment when all the emotion comes together to provide the viewer with a single passionate image.  The viewer is then left to wonder what happens after this connection is made and what is going on in the exterior of this canvas.  It is a single moment of desire expressed in art.

Light

Kahn looks at Light as the source of all being.  I feel light gives meaning and life to all being. Think about it...if everything was black then we would never see what is in front of us.  Once black is removed we see the light.  Shapes, forms, and life evolves around us.  So, there is "being" all around us but light gives the "being" purpose and life.

When I read Kahn's thoughts on Light, I thought about a study I did in Australia based on a series of images and charcoal drawings.  I was asked to view the architecture of the city through a series of black and white images capturing the shade and shadows that transform space over a day, week, and month.  Light became an element or a being in my drawings.

Silence + Light

The non-verbal meets the unmeasurable.  Does one break the other?  I feel that in silence you can see light while in light you can feel silence.  So each one is greater with the aid of the other.  Kahn talks about Silence as the "desire to be, desire to be expressed, the source of new need" while Light is the "measurable giver of all presence."  He talks about how these two entities meet to create a manifestation to be.

I found the manifestation of Silence and Light in the work of Lynn Fox.  Fox studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture.  She is dedicated to the pursuit of architectural ideas through moving image.  She designs by exploring the spatial concepts of using animation and film to develop a series of exhibitions that bring the viewer into a realm of visual space. The mysterious nature of her work provides the viewer with a wonderment of the non-verbal and unmeasurable atmosphere from which her designs encompass. 

  

Order

Kahn state that "Order is."  He can't really describe it in words but that order just is order.  I to can not put words to what order is except that it come unnaturally but with thought.  It is something that we see in every aspect of our lives.  Order just is.

I attached an image of an origami tessellation.  I feel there is a great sense of order when you look at geometry.  People tend to define order as things falling in line or items fitting within themselves.  There is a strong geometry to the way humans view order.  Origami follows this sense, by placing a geometry to an object, the object can then in turn become something great then itself.

 

Knowledge

Knowledge has Kahn describes it belongs to nature and humans only gain knowledge by how much they are willing to learn.  He feels that everyone has an underline talented that prevails in their will to learn.  Your talent then drives your desire to learn which in turn provides you with knowledge.  I related Kahn theory to the notions of sustainability and green design.  This is a knowledge that is new to the design industry.  It belongs to nature but has taken designers years to adapt to the concept of designing with nature and the environment in mind.

I feel there are many trilling ideas related to recycling coming from the product design industry.  I recently read about a revolutionary concept of converting the everyday Bic pen top into a piece of cutlery.  It makes the average office pen into a multi-use tool.  The series is called "Din-ink."  

There are many great ideas of taking the knowledge we know about everyday items and mixing talent to come up with an innovative way to design sustainable.  Check out these sites to gain a better knowledge of what is going on in the design community:

inhabitat

core77

dwell

Unmeasurable and Measurable

Creating something that merely looks good is no longer enough.  We must amuse and enchant by providing our visitors with devices that give something extra in the way of visual entertainment.