Dear Chris, Ken, Terence and Gunes,

Chris has written:
"Although the transformation might be positive designers have a
responsibility to understand the whole picture".
It is very inspiring and really I wonder how designers understand the
whole picture?

I think Matt's deli is a fantastic idea and this sensitivity seems to
be so rare. As far I understand, he knows the inner dynamics of the
community he lives in. For me, it seems like the Bragazzi's deli is a
part of Matt's way of living and thinking, something beyond a
*democratic design process*. It seems like he lives within his design,
which is again very inspiring.

Today was my last ride with the big new ferry before I take off for
Sheffield. Really, the new ship is structurally very similar to the
old ones. Thus there is plenty of room to feed the pigeons. However,
one does not feel right in it, I guess for no obvious reason. I kept
thinking about it and found out two things that I d like to share with
you. One, the choice of materials is terrible: a lot of vinyl, spots
and a lot of red in the browns of the floor and the seats.The old
ferries have saturated greens and there is no artificial lighting.
Thus, it is always little gloomy. The new one is lit like a shopping
mall.
The second thing took me a while to grasp. The new ship is 1.5 times
bigger than the old ones (eyeballed). Although the new and the old
ships are very very similar, this change of scale makes one vulnerable
and uneasy because we are used to the smaller cabins. And this new
scale really refers to a long distance heavy duty travel vehicle
instead of an urban vehicle.
The traditional Istanbul ferries have just enough room and it has a
more urban character instead of a heavy duty look.
I have been thinking about which factual differences might be making
passengers feel weird during the past week.
And I will go to Bragazzi's deli soon and write more.
Best of all from Istanbul
Cigdem



Alinti Chris Rust <[log in to unmask]>

> Terence Love wrote:
>> Thinking about what what Cigdem raised seems to me to be pretty complex. Is
>> culture the 'will of the people writ large' (as in a collection of social
>> practices); 'a powerful and subtle tool of the rich and powerful to
>> condition people to behave in ways that enable the rich and powerful to
>> increase their wealth and power'; something else...?
>
> I'm assuming that "culture" in this case is shorthand for existing
> practices and/or arrangements that appear to have value in the lives
> of those affected. Another term often used is heritage.
>
> As an individual visitor, I experience the Istanbul ferries partly
> as a nostalgic reminder of earlier experiences of other ferries and
> ships in the 1960s (my heritage) and I also imagine that they give
> me an authentic experience of the lives of Istanbul people today and
> in the past, however I don't have any right to that experience and
> it's up to the people of Istanbul (the general public and specific
> organisations involved) to decide whether visitors like me might
> continue to enjoy the ferries in their present form.
>
> The situation for those who live in Istanbul is quite different. The
> ferries are long-established and current developments, new kinds of
> ferry and a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus, could transform that
> part of their lives. Although the transformation might be positive
> designers have a responsibility to understand the whole picture as
> far as they can and that includes the pleasure people gain from
> feeding birds from the deck of the ferry and perhaps the value of
> diversity and traces of history in our urban environment.
>
> It is difficult to assess reliably how much people would miss
> something they take for granted but the success of many conservation
> projects such as the paddle steamer Waverley in Britain shows the
> extent to which people value traditional forms of transport when
> they are lost. I find it very ironic that designers often spend a
> great deal of effort on wondering how to engender pleasure and
> satisfaction in the new things they create but rarely take account
> of the pleasures and satisfactions that they supplant. Or, if they
> do, it is often in facile ways. The photograph of the (imagined)
> restaurateur's (imagined) Italian grannie in her peasant kitchen is
> a deeply cynical act which undermines genuine traces of heritage
> when they exist.
>
> If you ever visit Sheffield I'd like to recommend you visit
> Bragazzi's deli and cafe on Abbeydale Road. Matt Bragazzi is an
> industrial design graduate who uses his real Italian grandmother's
> recipes, imports hard to find Italian food and fitted out his cafe
> with an entertaining collection of rather beat up old furniture. The
> authenticity is not in any nostalgic reference but the combination
> of pleasures that Matt gives his customers, who all seem to be
> enthusiastic and loyal supporters of his business. Matt's strength
> is that he is a designer exercising his craft within a community
> rather than imposing it on people he does not know. We don't all
> have that freedom but we might do well to reflect on how we can
> capture those qualities.
>
> best wishes from Sheffield
> Chris
>



--
Research Assistant
Department of Industrial Product Design
Istanbul Technical University
Taskisla, Istanbul 34437, Turkey

t. 0212 2931310 x 2824
f. 0212 2514895
w. www.tasarim.itu.edu.tr