Concessions to Fashion
FBBB --
I think it's absurd to talk about *any* design discipline as if there
is a boundary between form and function. Even container ships and oil
tankers are subject to the vagaries of "fashion"; let alone pleasure
craft. Rococo is a fashion, but form follows function is a fashion
too!
Cost, performance, appearance -- these are all factors in any design;
whether it a car, a boat, a Web site. Any design that interacts with
human beings (that's pretty much all of them, isn't it?) must and
should be subject to fashion. And innovative designers will
continues to question the price paid for that beholdance to "fashion"
and give us new ways to do things.
If Bolger designs have done anything for my understanding of boats,
they've shown me how these considerations of cost, performance and
appearance interact. My scooner and teal have characteristics I don't
like, but they have characteristics I like very much; and I (think)
have a much better understanding of what I can and can't have given
my money, time, and craftsmanship.
YIBB,
David
CRUMBLING EMPIRE PRODUCTIONS
134 West 26th St. 12th Floor
New York, New York 10001
http://www.crumblingempire.com
(212) 247-0296
I think it's absurd to talk about *any* design discipline as if there
is a boundary between form and function. Even container ships and oil
tankers are subject to the vagaries of "fashion"; let alone pleasure
craft. Rococo is a fashion, but form follows function is a fashion
too!
Cost, performance, appearance -- these are all factors in any design;
whether it a car, a boat, a Web site. Any design that interacts with
human beings (that's pretty much all of them, isn't it?) must and
should be subject to fashion. And innovative designers will
continues to question the price paid for that beholdance to "fashion"
and give us new ways to do things.
If Bolger designs have done anything for my understanding of boats,
they've shown me how these considerations of cost, performance and
appearance interact. My scooner and teal have characteristics I don't
like, but they have characteristics I like very much; and I (think)
have a much better understanding of what I can and can't have given
my money, time, and craftsmanship.
YIBB,
David
CRUMBLING EMPIRE PRODUCTIONS
134 West 26th St. 12th Floor
New York, New York 10001
http://www.crumblingempire.com
(212) 247-0296