7.21.09 Design and Character
Why is it that almost all design magazines and staging look and feel so soulless? I’ve just seen some pictures in the Sunday Oregonian from the upcoming Street of Dreams tour that features penthouses in a few of the recently built condo buildings in the Pearl in downtown Portland. In each of these $1 million dollar plus offerings there have been designers contracted to decorate the spaces. And while they are each technically well designed, they lack soul and a sense of being emotionally moved by the spaces. And isn’t this a big part of what we want in our homes, to feel embraced and to feel good??? It seems such a lost opportunity. Where we could be giving people the experience of spaces with deeper design character. Instead, most designs and shops offer up the latest styles that celebrate the surface of things, which by it’s very nature is transient and less enduring.
Alain De Botton writes eloquently about this in ‘The Architecture of Happiness’, that homes can represent our deeper desires for ourselves and life, the things we most value. In my own design practice I strive to create spaces that people feel good in, that have personality and character. One key lesson I’ve learned for making spaces more enchanting is to have the space (home or work) include only things you really love. This is actually part of deeper ecological thinking, that if we invest in only that which we really love and that moves us, we will consume less and surround ourselves with what inspires us and nurtures us. While this sounds relatively simple, it’s both very challenging and rewarding.
Reflection: Are there places that you may be putting more energy into how popular something is or how it looks without having given enough thought to how much you really love it? This reflection can apply to most all areas of our lives. Notice the aspects of your life that you deeply love and imagine what qualities may be shared in these loves that can inform you in the future?