Hello PHD-DESIGN list!
My name is Maria Miller, Visiting Assistant Professor of Design at The Ohio
State University and I am interested in better understanding the value of
empathy in design. This is my first post.
When teaching the importance of empathy, I have often used precedents as
examples. One of my favorites is the much written about and well-documented
experience of Dr. Edith Farnsworth, a brilliant medical researcher for whom
Mies van der Rohe had designed a vacation home on property she had recently
purchased in Illinois. When I was in architecture school, this house was
greatly revered and frequently assigned as a first year precedent
replication project. The story is fairly salacious, drives my point home
and always seems to resonate with my students.
Rumor has it that Mies may have seduced Farnsworth in an effort to make
real his architectural ideal, which until that point had remained largely
theoretical. Although greatly celebrated as an architectural masterpiece,
the project was something of a disaster for his client -wildly over-budget,
plagued with building and systems failures, birds constantly striking the
glass, deliberately situated on a risky flood plain, and failing to address
many of Farnsworth’s requests and needs.
Long after their personal relationship ended, Farnsworth continued to
inhabit the house with much discomfort. What’s worse, Mies’ apostles would
regularly travel to the property and trespass intrusively while attempting
to photograph her and the house. A constant stream of visitors could be
seen from those large glass windows attempting to peer in, leaving her
feeling much like a caged zoo animal. At night it was worse. While
illuminated, one could no longer see out of the house, but one was aware
that others could see in. The glass acted as a mirror and all Farnsworth
would have seen was her lone, haunting reflection moving about the
space. Mies was nowhere, Mies was everywhere and although she'd paid
greatly for it, this house would never be hers.
I am writing a paper and looking for similarly historically revered
precedents from different design disciplines that can be shown to be
greatly lacking in empathy for its user needs, not even emotional ones.
Does anyone have any good leads or juicy stories they would be willing to
share?
Best Regards,
Maria V Miller
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