 |
 |
---------- From: Nicholas Oddy <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2002 15:16:14 -0700 To: Kristina Borjesson <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Timeless? In view of the correspondence I am forwarding this to the PhD list to add to the confusion! Dear Kristina, The concept of 'timeless' design is largely a modernist one and is highly questionable (except to journalists and others who require superlatives to impress the unwitting). It has been further complicated by the post-modern elevation of many objects to 'classic' (another, even dodgier term) status. Very few, if any objects are timeless, most can be dated and therefore are invalid. If you ask a bunch of students to name a 'timeless' object they usually come up with things such as VW Beetles (which can be dated almost to the month of manufacture), Breuer furniture (ditto), and so on and so on. Clearly, such objects are not timeless. One is slightly better off with things like ball bearings. Not that they've been around for very long, but, as my main research activity is cycling history, I've looked at the whole lot from their inception. Visually and by smell or feel there is no way one can tell the difference between a ball from an 1880s machine and one from the present, and it is difficult to imagine how they might change in future. The same cannot be said for their races, which are subject to much more variation and aesthetic input. You can see the general drift of my argument that objects themselves are rarely if ever timeless, but the design concept can be, at least in human terms. THE wheel is a pretty timeless design concept, but A wheel is not, most are easily dated. This is what makes the ball of a ball bearing such an interesting object, as it is as simple and -er- timeless as its concept - so far, although I presume that scientific metallurgical analysis can confound it! Anyway, taking the broader view, in evolutionary terms all human activity belongs to a very short time indeed and therefore, per se, is not timeless. Nicholas Oddy, Historical and Critical Studies. Glasgow School of Art. Hello all list-members. I am working on my MPhil/Ph.D. at the Design Department, Goldsmiths College, University of London. The focus for my research is the concept of Timeless Design. My aim is to try to define this concept in terms specific enough to contribute to design education. I would very much appreciate if those of you with a moment to spare (who has?) and/or special interest in the subject could answer 2 questions. Very short! Could you in one sentence tell what timeless-ness is NOT, rather than is. Could give me an example of a timeless object (artefact or architecture). Thank you! .. and enjoy spring! Kristina Borjesson