Limits...

I thought I’d sidestep the fact that tomorrow is 9/11, but all week my inbox has been full of reminders. It seems presumptuous to write about it in this, a blog about design, but it keeps coming to me in different ways and I don’t want to ignore something that has been so significant in all our lives. Another year, another cycle of seasons, changes and time to heal. We’ve all been touched by and lived with the process of finding a way to keep going after what for many of us was cataclysmic, and for all of us who were touched in some way by that event, at the very least a profound moment of loss and awakening to how fragile our lives really are and what can be taken away from us in a single terrible moment.

So why start there, and what does this have to do with design?

We live.

Life does go on, and as we come through what for many of us has been a difficult time these past years, it’s good to remember what’s really important. We’re here, we were lucky, we get to live, we rebuild, we get on with things. And we plan.

I started these musings thinking about “tight times”, how the challenges of the past couple of years have colored all of our decisions and perceptions, not just in design but in our lives. Perhaps this “correction”, though certainly more severe than anyone anticipated, has pushed us to discover our limits and challenge them; what we think we can do and how to make things happen in our lives. I’m thinking that these moments have much to teach us, not only about what’s of lasting value, but what we consider the limits of our own- and our world’s- potential.

I’ve been reading a lot lately about how good design is in danger of being “sacrificed” by the state of the economy. I can’t for the life of me figure out why. In my experience, budget has little to do with creativity. If anything, limits on our funds seem to push us to find more creative solutions. And knowing what resources we have available to make our dreams happen doesn’t preclude getting there, just sets the stage for our direction. If we’re using our heads and our hearts, the results can be pretty astounding.

In the last 10 years or so there’s been a lot of movement on the part of architects to find creative and humanitarian solutions to world crises and housing problems- from housing for the homeless and displaced, to low-cost schools and medical treatment facilities in third world countries. A whole generation of young architects has been learning to think about solutions to these problems with limited resources in difficult locations. The results have been amazing and inspiring- beautiful, simple structures with ingenious use of local resources or cheap, readily available materials. The ideas are what matters, and solving the problem. 

One of the most inspirational voices for this “new humanism” was Sam Mockbee, an architect who was pivotal in using his own personal force, sense of “soul”, and deep commitment to community to forge a new sensibility in architectural education. As one of the founders and directors of the Rural Studio, a program in the architecture department at Auburn University, he profoundly changed our thinking about what is important in our purpose for design. Under his direction, students in the Rural Studio built homes and community buildings for people in desperate need, often using recycled or “found” materials- a chapel built substantially from discarded tires; stucco walls studded with wine bottle windows, recycled windshields and license plates were the building palette with which he created dwellings and structures to enrich the environment in one of the poorest parts of the country. He and his students made our trash find a new life. In the process, he altered the thinking of many architecture and design lovers beyond his own small world as to what can be achieved if we aren’t limited by a lack of imagination. An award-winning residential architect, he brought to these designs the same respect, aesthetic and creativity that he applied to private clients. In the process he reminded us of what is important and how we can achieve it.

Those engaged in this process have been finding ways to work with limited resources without sacrificing ideas- and they’ve been at the forefront of thinking clearly about how to distill what’s most important in terms of fulfilling fundamental human need for shelter. Some of those designs are inspiring, some are technologically intriguing, all are done with extremely limited resources in difficult circumstances. “Architecture for Humanity”, a not-for-profit organization based in San Francisco,  has been key in promoting this thinking and it is wonderful to see what is coming out of the collaboration of people from all walks, from all over the world. 

We’ve become more conscious of the fragility of our resources- the balance of nature and what happens when that’s thrown off, misuse and overuse of our natural materials, and much has been said and done to look at “greening” our choices. We’re rethinking what it means to use materials “honestly”, and what “honest” materials are- are plastics really an enemy, or can we find a way to use them more effectively? Is strip-mining the side of a mountain to tile our bathrooms really a good use of our natural resources? And all those rainforest boardrooms and media centers that we rip out in 10 years? It’s a process in making better choices and using what we have with more thoughtfulness. 

So are we all going to run out and build homes out of carpet samples and recycled tires? Of course not. But the fundamental concept of creative problem-solving is that we aren’t limited by our resources, but by our lack of imagination in finding solutions, and in assuming that those limits will stop us from building instead of inspiring us to build smarter. And build we will, because we can.

OK, I was a bit serious this time. Next week I promise I'll think about window treatments.

For more on Sam Mockbee and the Rural Studio, see the following link:

http://www.cadc.auburn.edu/soa/rural-studio/mockbee.htm 

For more on Architecture for Humanity:

http://architectureforhumanity.org/