Thinking Inside the Box

Not so much so in Lothlorien.

"But it occurs to me that all of design history is about embracing or rejecting the box.." Yep, that about covers all possibilities.

Karrie combines two of my favourite professions "Designer" and "Journalist".

After living in a geodesic dome for the past 11 years, my definition of box has expanded a bit.

A box could be the shell of an egg or how about the atmosphere we have been boxed to separate us from the rest off space?

Just thinking outside of the pre-packaged notions.

Oh, no. I hope this isn't the return of the aerodynamic designs of the 50's.

How about the 1920's and Bucky's dymaxion line.

If you really think about it, designing 90º corner boxes is out side of the box. Are there many 90º corners in nature?

Sure is Mate. Aerodramatic is the real term BTW.

Garthh reckons I can't get a building permit were this is. We shall see .

What's that--a squatting frog wearing a beanie-copter?

Yeah, just tougher

How about this?

In the pot? Yes!

Something to model my house after, No. The corridors would be too long. For me a house should be like a beautiful shell. I am going sideways with this but if I still have it in my system, I will not give in that easy.

Resale value?

Karrie Jacobs is confusing the word box with the word cuboid. 'Designers' are doing their best to abandon right angle corners. Are they failing because there are still plenty of right angle corners around? Kerrie has obviously never tried to stack pyramids onto a shipping pallet, or bend a steel joist into a spiral. Perfume bottles come in weird and wonderful shaped of bottles, but they all arrive at the perfume shop in neat rectangular boxes because that is the only practical way to ship them.

The first rule of design is "The item being designed must be fit for purpose"

I admire a full length satin backless evening dress with a swooping neckline and a discrete slit in the skirt to show just a hint of elegant thigh as much as the next man, but I wouldn't suggest wearing it for mucking out the pigs.

I suspect that Kerrie's comments may be aimed at architects, some of whom have lost sight of the first rule. How do you use a swooping roof? A pyramid wastes space, is expensive to heat and difficult to build. A spiral wastes space. is expensive to heat and almost impossible to build.

My local hospital has just been rebuilt at a cost of £21million. It has no costly swooping roof, giant atrium or polished facade, it is an unashamed rectangle. It is a building designed for curing patients, and there was enough money left over to equip it with state of the art scanners and operating theatres.

The article more or less concludes that "boxism" still rules. Read all about it in the CR4 thread, "Shipping Container Housing"!

(Beware; I suspect it is a not-so-distant second to the BBT.)