Assignment 3 Beauty and Utility

Here is an example of a decorated construction. Creator: unknown

In the grammar of ornament in 1856, Owen Jones argued that ‘construction should be decorated, decoration should never be purposely constructed’. Owen Jones argued this is as during the first half of the nineteenth century industrialists, merchants, and professionals took interest to shape the values of a more complex and diverse society. Such attitudes took a variety of forms including the role of art in the decoration of construction.

Decoration should never be purposely constructed as it will be an imitation of nature and an inappropriate decoration for function ornament constructed which is a false principle. Construction should be decorated as it is the appropriate ornament for object and use for abstraction in representation which counts as a true principle.

I agree with Owen Jones as I think if decoration is purposely constructed it will look pretty ugly in terms of design. Constructions can be easily decorated into any appropriate ornament.

Blog 2 The Continuing Curve

Made by Jack Olive in 1971

What is the “sensuous impulse” in design? Where do we see it manifest, today or historically?

Artworks that are created with the contrast of styles which are pleasing to the senses are known as the sensuous impulse. The sensuous impulses in designs are often exceptional works in a designer’s oeuvre that encompasses more traditional creations from nature, feminine and floral curves. Though widespread and vigorous at the turn of the last century, sensuous creativity was trumped by the intellectual asceticism of modernism during the 1920’s. The sensuous impulse in design has manifested historically as there was still a perceptible softening in aspects of modernist design in the 1930s and 1950s.

Reference: The Continuing Curve by Penelope Hunter-Stibel

blog assignment 1

Rex - the robotic exoskeleton

Richard Little and Robert Irving have been working on a Robotic Exoskeleton called the "Rex" for seven years. The "Rex" is used as a pair of robotic legs for disabled people who would normally be confined to a wheelchair. It enables the user to stand, walk, climbing steps, going uphill and downhill. I think this is an important excellent design even if it is in the early stages of development. It gives a new hope to the disabled who once had a dream of walking with their own feet.