Dear Chris,
Thanks for an interesting post and the
reminder of our good conversation on
the Shakers.
I am actually halfway round the world
from home as I read this, and using a
web interface that doesn't support an
elegant reply.
The issues involved in Shaker furniture
parallel many design issues. The aspect
of craft was important -- so was the
fact that Shaker furniture was designed
for the mass production of the era, sold
in kits and shipped widely. I can't off-hand
recall whether some kinds of furniture
collapsed IKEA style, but many were
designed to work in module-like arrays
for easy storage.
A craft manufacturing equivalent of
ergonomics also made the chairs functional
and comfortable.
Much of this emananted from the Shaker
ethos of service to humankind as a form
of worship.
One of their great mottos was "Hands to
work and hearts to God."
I've always thought of Erik Stolterman's
and Harold Nelson's view of "design as
being in service" in this light.
The Shakers also embodied a special vision
that parallels aspects of phronesis, the
art of knowing what we should do and what
goals we should aim toward. From this
knowledge, we begin to ask how we should
properly achieve our goals and in what
ways.
Let me think on this a bit. I'm home
Sunday, and if I can think of anything
useful to add, I'll post it next week.
Best regards,
Ken
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