Jun 28
2010
Design is inextricably tied to our experience of place. Places that we return to again and again or places that become identified as "destinations" are often ones that resonate with us because of aspects of their design.
What is your favorite design destination in the world and why?
emily gave the final word
I think for me, in terms of design being integral to experiencing a place, that churches/places of worship are at the top of my list. No matter what “holy” place I go into, and no matter to whom it is holy, the design seems to me as much a part of any spiritual connection one is seeking as the religious traditions practiced within.
Wednesday, June 30 at 7:40pm
Max, I really like your version of the question, but I when I used the term “destination” I was thinking more in terms of your favorite place to visit, rather than where you live. I was in the middle of planning my summer vacation when I was asked to do this! For me, for example, one of my favorite places to go, where design is the draw and pervades the atmosphere of the whole place, is a little one-horse town in Texas called Marfa. It’s a trek to get there, but it’s an amazing place, in which the late Donald Judd, who bought most of the buildings in the 1970s, has considered every last detail of their renovation, the spaces between them and their interior architecture.
I’d still really like to have a conversation around this topic. Can I propose we do your question next week? Anyone else out there with suggestions for the ultimate design-driven vacation?
Tuesday, June 29 at 10:52am
Apart from being vacation destinations, to an observant local amusement parks are endlessly entertaining case studies design. Growing up in Southern California, I have quite the supreme selection. But two parks stand out for me, and I still frequent to this day:
The Wild West themed Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park is rich in mostly idealized American history (and family history—my great grandmother used to work at the glow-in-the-dark shop), and Charles Schulz’s Peanuts Gang. I also enjoy the food design here. The Knott family invented the delicious hybrid fruit, the boysenberry—yes it once was an actual berry farm.
But the king of all parks has to be the original Disneyland resort in Anaheim, CA. The semi-utopian and immersively and unmercifully branded Disney is at once wonderful, inspiring, and frightening. Whether it’s a Disney-designed, frontier, fantasy, or tomorrow, every visit offers and opportunity to discover a new nook or a new “land” that will make you say “wow, these guys are geniuses,” or “god help us all.”
Wednesday, June 30 at 2:56pm
Dearborn Street, Chicago. It’s right around the corner from my office, so it’s in my own neighborhood. A walk down Dearborn is a walk through the history of tall buildings, a pivotal element of what makes cities, in my mind’s eye. I love to see the Monadnock Building’s 6′-thick brick walls, and then walk around the corner to see The Rookery, and the first curtain wall. Each time I take the walk, I think of the multitude of films that have been shot in The Loop, and their different interpretations of urbanism. Dearborn Street is my favorite design walk, hands down.
Wednesday, June 30 at 4:14pm
emily gave the Final Word
I think for me, in terms of design being integral to experiencing a place, that churches/places of worship are at the top of my list. No matter what “holy” place I go into, and no matter to whom it is holy, the design seems to me as much a part of any spiritual connection one is seeking as the religious traditions practiced within.
Wednesday, June 30 at 7:40pm
It has to be the region of Kutch, in Gujarat, India.
Kutch would have to be one of the most densely creative regions in the world. (I just came up with that index, someone should do something about it.)
Every village here has at least one completely unique craft tradition, some villages have several. At last count, somebody distinguished at least 19 different traditions of embroidery within this small group of villages. That’s besides the distinctive weaving, dyeing and printing techniques. Then there’s pottery, wood carving, metal work, stone craft and an amazing felicity with leather. Kutchi people live in a considerably hostile environment – on the border of a salt desert – but they are also among the most hospitable people I know. And they continue to innovate, adapting their traditions to changing times and keeping them alive.
Traveling in Kutch is a design experience in itself. Not only is the landscape fantastically varied (you can either run into a flock of pink flamingos or a pack of wild asses), its people have come up with some ingenious ways to get from one village to another. One of them is the Chhakda (a colorful frankenstein of a vehicle made of motorcycle and tractor parts), but there are also complex vehicle sharing systems in place that run on very tight time schedules.
Going to Kutch is a humbling experience, reminding you that design sometimes runs in people’s blood, it isn’t necessarily taught in schools.
Wednesday, June 30 at 8:18pm
One country: Italy
Several cities: Rome, Chicago, Amsterdam, NYC
Specific destinations (public): too many to choose, but I found the following to be transformative design experiences: Eames House, Taliesen West, Roden Crater, MAK/Center (Schindler House in LA), Marfa, TX, Philip Johnson Glass House, Monticello, Moss, The High Line, ancient sites, great hardware stores in the U.S., National Park lodges, Glasgow School of Art, Sir John Soane’s Museum
Everywhere: slow strolls during morning or evening light, staying in a place long enough to experience changes in light and weather, wilderness camps and journeys where you rely on what you make with your hands, making a great meal in someone else’s kitchen, design studios, farmers markets, public gardens…destinations that engage all of your senses.
Thursday, July 1 at 1:23am
My favorite design destination is just as much an event as it is a particular place: the Brussels Flower Carpet, an installation that happens every other year in the Grand Place, the old town square of Brussels, Belgium. The “carpet” that covers the square— about the size of a football field—is created by one million individually placed begonia blossoms, a flower that Belgium grows in abundance.
The square is cordoned off except for the periphery, and volunteers spend a few days arranging the flowers according to a design based on a general theme (like “Art Nouveau,” or, the year I attended, “Medieval Tapestries”). The effect is spectacular: the densely packed bright yellow, pink, orange and red blossoms seem to emanate their own light, popping against the weathered stone facades of the surrounding 17th century buildings. After being on display for a few days, the barriers are removed, and people are allowed to walk on the carpet of petals. The next morning at dawn, a giant street cleaner unceremoniously vacuums up the flowers.
An ephemeral but highly memorable design destination!
Watch a time lapse video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q24t1fq3RRg
Thursday, July 1 at 6:05pm
Keywords
Selected list of words appearing in this and other conversations.
Max Fowler Cohen
Executive Director, Parley Creative Group
0
I think the question needs to be reframed: As tempting as it is to think in absolutes and ‘favorite in the world’ categories, that’s exactly that kind of thinking that disenfranchises people who don’t live in major cities and makes them ashamed of where they live- If you’re from a small town in Maine, but you’re constantly dreaming of the East Village, you don’t live in a ‘design destination’. Speaking in these terms encourages people on the margins of the capitalist spectacle-society to want to be somewhere else, somewhere grander in scale, which divests them of interest in their local environments, and makes positive design change a lot harder to do in less wealthy suburban and rural places, which too-often lack an understanding of their own potential design relevance because they can’t compete with New York. Growing up in a small town in Northern New England, I was constantly encouraged to devalue the place where I lived by the kinds of cultural messages that are subtextual to this week’s question. I hear the phrase ‘favorite design destination’, and it smacks of capital ‘D’ Design- utterly inaccessible in most small towns. Sure there was some kind of cool mid-twentieth century brickwork around my town growing up, but, in the sense of the grand competition of the modern attention-economy spectacle, my hometown is not a destination. So, I’d ask a different question: “What is your favorite design feature in your local community, and why?” I live in Washington, DC now, and there’s a lot to love about it design-wise, but I sure do wish I’d received more external encouragement to like my own more humble hometown growing up.
Tuesday, June 29 at 10:25am