why scissors ALWAYS beats paper
August 26, 2005 – 11:36 pm
architects. if they weren’t so doggone aesthetically in tune, then we could do without them entirely! i jest, of course, as a progeny of such a craftsman. but can you say form over function? an example that’s frankly almost too archetypal to be true can be found here.
“Concave Tamper: New scientifically engineered shape creates a round coffee crown for even brewing throughout. Result: richer, fuller, more enjoyable flavor.”
wow. and the little concave sucker won the “good design award” from the chicago athenaeum museum of architecture and design. well, now. do we really need to go into what this says about postmodern design theory? yes. yes, we do.
see, you wouldn’t dare ask a barista about this concept, will you? ask whether it works? no, just throw around snide refences to “old percolator coffee,” and shame those clueless chumps into believing their palates bear the tender sensory receptacles of armadillo hide. hit them with your clean line theorems! equate their personal tastes with outmoded grandparental conventions! postmodern designers: same ego, same offense. why design in homage to the past or with an eye to future function when you can stamp BIG IMPORTANT CONCEPT all over something with enough militant clean-line allegiance to make the empire state building seem like a wad of hairy gum? add to the designer’s folly the fact that this is an architectural museum chucking out awards for these nonfunctional tampers and, well, that’s like hand crafting a stained glass depiction of madonna and child and asking your six-year-old if she thinks it’s pretty, then going to franciscan nun for a second opinion. architects and curators. without them, who knows? it might all look purty!
a concave tamper. sheesh. i can only imagine the inner channeling that must produce. at least, no one ever told me my flat tamper was doing such an uneven job. who would have guessed, judging from the evidence?
