okie dokie, thoughts in no paticular order. pugin likes function over form. which as a basic rule, this carpet follows. the carpet is flat so its easy to walk over , rather than be shaped like riverstones for realism. it provides an insulative layer under come-ers and go-ers feet, and adds a friendly, familliar feel to the airport, which is import when we think about what wellington city is trying to provide for people.
pugin also likes design which respects materials properties. but as lived in a world he probibaly believed was flat, and though bending wood was out of the question, his perceived properties, and our perceived properties of a material are potentially quite different (whet the hell else would we make skateboards from?). so, would he like this use of wool/nylon (assuming its not very nice carpet anyway...) i dont know, i think that because he was so closed minded about things ( he couldn't possibly be a part of the expression and abstraction going on around him, that he had to look to goths for inspiration ( and come on, how glum are they..) that he wouldnt like the idea of nylon being extracted from oil and extruded into monofilament. so he wouldnt be happy on the materials front. unless it was pure wool and in whichcase i think that would be a pass. they use woll for all other sorts of stuff like clothing ect back then so im sure woolen rugs where around.
now, one thing he hated was an imitation of architecture. and this carpet isnt imitating arghetecture, ( without harping on about god's archetecture or something similar ) ( which come to think of it he may have done...) BUT it is imitating one of the primary archetacture materials of his time, and especially of his styles. so i dont think he would of been ok with this, it depeneds on how you see it. is shredding documents mocking peperplanes? YOUR CALL but to me it is. the carpet dosent really turn decoration into structure as without the stone pattern, the structure dosent change, BUT making the carpet patterned instead of flat colour may have made its production process less efficient, which i dont think he would of liked ( being a form over function guy ). but he may not have cared about efficiency he wasnt in the middle of a crisis/craze (havent decided yet). one big problem with the carpet is that its a perfect repetition of a perfect pattern. it has no variance, no craft, no mistakes, no real beauty, which dosen't respect his principles at all. further problem, while the inspiration is taken from nature (tick) and the decoration kind of is relevant ( stony river/seabed, wellington on reclaimed land, rivers being like a natural efficient road, the airport having this sortof metaphorical feeling of change ( people coming and going) whatever) its not very abstracted, its 3d ( ish ) and it also is repeated and has no variance ( real word? ) or real beaury through variation.
pugin doesnt like the carpet, i dont like the carpet.
oh, just a thought. morally the carpet could be ok, because we walk over riverstone, and we are walking over the carpet. the decoration is abstracted enough and made 2d obviously for us to know that we are not walking over actual river stones.
My aesthetic judgements on this particular design are semi-complex. The carpet appears to be a desaturated scan of a particular section of riverbed, which doesn't appear to be a large area. If you investigate a little closer, in the bottom righthand corner there is a small section of some sort of steel based object, which indicated to me that the shot was taken at head height (5-6ft). You can see the repetitive pattern of the image used, so the element of random rocky aesthetics is partially lost. Although the design seems a little cheap in the sampling area the use of desaturation to flattern the image (yet not entirely), is a rather contemporary form of print methodology - Pugin likes his walls and floors to seem flat.
The image is also of a natural environment/material, so again Pugin would give it a thumbs up for that.
Did Pugin get a chance to own a camera? Hmmm
My critique - the sample image used in the design is a little on the cheap side, but with the level of foot traffic, WCC could just put tarseal down and be done with it (hey its a stinky airport)
Pugin - would probably give this a semi-thumbs up and like the fact that the carpet is functional for the environment it is used in, and the image is almost flat.
Pugin would have not liked this carpet along with Henry Cole,Richard Redgrave and Owen Jones. These design reformers did not like realistic or 3D imagery of nature. This carpet seems to try and replicate the look of nature, rather than use its flat form or motif. Still, judging from the examples shown in the lecture and the reading, these outspoken design reformers had blurry lines on what they liked and what they didnt. Some of their examples and even their own designs show a less hard line compared to their principles.
As pre mentioned I think there are elements of this carpet that would have been both and disliked.
I think that the basic concept behind the carpet would have been appreciated however the execution wasn't. Using nature as a basis for decoration was seen as acceptable as long as it wasn't a direct imitation. In this case the carpet is masquerading as a bed of stones in a way that appears to lifelike and 3 dimensional which went against his true principles of design.
In terms of form, I can not judge what the carpet is made from so can only say it is definitely function first as it is a flat carpet that is easy to walk on.
I also agree with Lee's comment about how we can't truly judge what people such as Pugin would have liked as the often showed blurred lines in their judgement.
@cameron while the image looks relatively flat to you and me, keep in mind the amount of image, photo, edited image, print, decoration ect that we see every day.
flat to pugin is like probably more like this http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3732939613_ea0228bb26_o.jpg blocky bold patterns, flat colour, with heavilly styleised motif's.
Pugin would definitely given this carpet the thumbs down! He would have classified this under the false principles because of its attempt to create an illusion of stones rather than just representing them through a motif. The shading ect falsifies the perspective and imitates nature rather than representing it.
Good analysis everyone! Both Patrick and Cam have thoughtfully addressed the complexity of Pugin's numerous principles and the contextual implications of Pugin's belief in the moral (and Christian) responsibility of design. But I think KohenJudd strikes a succinct and accurate note with the "thumbs down" -- even if the carpet isn't imitating architecture, it does utilise a false (illusionary) perspective with the shading and 'naturalistic' representation of the river stones. Imitation of nature was another big no-no for Pugin and others like Cole and Redgrave involved in the Design Reform movement. Nice dialogue everyone.
I was watching the news and I saw Wellington International Airport - and it reminded me of the carpet (yes I watch the news....woah! humina humina - poledancing). I should have worn my glasses when I looked at this pic. The image has flat diagonal strips (due to deinterlation) but also has heavily shaded - semi-ribbed sections that Pugin definitely would have shaken his fist at. If the designer pushed his method a little further, due to the spatial properties Pugin could be scratching his chin.
When I see this carpet it is not instantly clear this is a carpet because the pattern on it has realism and depth, the carpet is soft, stones are hard. Pugin was against illusionary design and pretending a material is something else, so I believe he would be against this carpet
okie dokie, thoughts in no paticular order.
ReplyDeletepugin likes function over form. which as a basic rule, this carpet follows. the carpet is flat so its easy to walk over , rather than be shaped like riverstones for realism. it provides an insulative layer under come-ers and go-ers feet, and adds a friendly, familliar feel to the airport, which is import when we think about what wellington city is trying to provide for people.
pugin also likes design which respects materials properties. but as lived in a world he probibaly believed was flat, and though bending wood was out of the question, his perceived properties, and our perceived properties of a material are potentially quite different (whet the hell else would we make skateboards from?).
so, would he like this use of wool/nylon (assuming its not very nice carpet anyway...)
i dont know, i think that because he was so closed minded about things ( he couldn't possibly be a part of the expression and abstraction going on around him, that he had to look to goths for inspiration ( and come on, how glum are they..) that he wouldnt like the idea of nylon being extracted from oil and extruded into monofilament. so he wouldnt be happy on the materials front. unless it was pure wool and in whichcase i think that would be a pass. they use woll for all other sorts of stuff like clothing ect back then so im sure woolen rugs where around.
now, one thing he hated was an imitation of architecture. and this carpet isnt imitating arghetecture, ( without harping on about god's archetecture or something similar ) ( which come to think of it he may have done...) BUT it is imitating one of the primary archetacture materials of his time, and especially of his styles. so i dont think he would of been ok with this, it depeneds on how you see it. is shredding documents mocking peperplanes? YOUR CALL but to me it is. the carpet dosent really turn decoration into structure as without the stone pattern, the structure dosent change, BUT making the carpet patterned instead of flat colour may have made its production process less efficient, which i dont think he would of liked ( being a form over function guy ). but he may not have cared about efficiency he wasnt in the middle of a crisis/craze (havent decided yet). one big problem with the carpet is that its a perfect repetition of a perfect pattern. it has no variance, no craft, no mistakes, no real beauty, which dosen't respect his principles at all. further problem, while the inspiration is taken from nature (tick) and the decoration kind of is relevant ( stony river/seabed, wellington on reclaimed land, rivers being like a natural efficient road, the airport having this sortof metaphorical feeling of change ( people coming and going) whatever) its not very abstracted, its 3d ( ish ) and it also is repeated and has no variance ( real word? ) or real beaury through variation.
pugin doesnt like the carpet, i dont like the carpet.
oh, just a thought. morally the carpet could be ok, because we walk over riverstone, and we are walking over the carpet. the decoration is abstracted enough and made 2d obviously for us to know that we are not walking over actual river stones.
ReplyDeleteMy aesthetic judgements on this particular design are semi-complex. The carpet appears to be a desaturated scan of a particular section of riverbed, which doesn't appear to be a large area. If you investigate a little closer, in the bottom righthand corner there is a small section of some sort of steel based object, which indicated to me that the shot was taken at head height (5-6ft). You can see the repetitive pattern of the image used, so the element of random rocky aesthetics is partially lost. Although the design seems a little cheap in the sampling area the use of desaturation to flattern the image (yet not entirely), is a rather contemporary form of print methodology - Pugin likes his walls and floors to seem flat.
ReplyDeleteThe image is also of a natural environment/material, so again Pugin would give it a thumbs up for that.
Did Pugin get a chance to own a camera? Hmmm
My critique - the sample image used in the design is a little on the cheap side, but with the level of foot traffic, WCC could just put tarseal down and be done with it (hey its a stinky airport)
Pugin - would probably give this a semi-thumbs up
and like the fact that the carpet is functional for the environment it is used in, and the image is almost flat.
Pugin would have not liked this carpet along with Henry Cole,Richard Redgrave and Owen Jones. These design reformers did not like realistic or 3D imagery of nature. This carpet seems to try and replicate the look of nature, rather than use its flat form or motif.
ReplyDeleteStill, judging from the examples shown in the lecture and the reading, these outspoken design reformers had blurry lines on what they liked and what they didnt. Some of their examples and even their own designs show a less hard line compared to their principles.
As pre mentioned I think there are elements of this carpet that would have been both and disliked.
ReplyDeleteI think that the basic concept behind the carpet would have been appreciated however the execution wasn't. Using nature as a basis for decoration was seen as acceptable as long as it wasn't a direct imitation. In this case the carpet is masquerading as a bed of stones in a way that appears to lifelike and 3 dimensional which went against his true principles of design.
In terms of form, I can not judge what the carpet is made from so can only say it is definitely function first as it is a flat carpet that is easy to walk on.
I also agree with Lee's comment about how we can't truly judge what people such as Pugin would have liked as the often showed blurred lines in their judgement.
@cameron while the image looks relatively flat to you and me, keep in mind the amount of image, photo, edited image, print, decoration ect that we see every day.
ReplyDeleteflat to pugin is like probably more like this http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3732939613_ea0228bb26_o.jpg
blocky bold patterns, flat colour, with heavilly styleised motif's.
Pugin would definitely given this carpet the thumbs down!
ReplyDeleteHe would have classified this under the false principles because of its attempt to create an illusion of stones rather than just representing them through a motif. The shading ect falsifies the perspective and imitates nature rather than representing it.
Good analysis everyone! Both Patrick and Cam have thoughtfully addressed the complexity of Pugin's numerous principles and the contextual implications of Pugin's belief in the moral (and Christian) responsibility of design. But I think KohenJudd strikes a succinct and accurate note with the "thumbs down" -- even if the carpet isn't imitating architecture, it does utilise a false (illusionary) perspective with the shading and 'naturalistic' representation of the river stones. Imitation of nature was another big no-no for Pugin and others like Cole and Redgrave involved in the Design Reform movement.
ReplyDeleteNice dialogue everyone.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think the real question is, would the WCA rock out with the 19th century carpet :P
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(wish this had a spellchecker)
ReplyDeleteI was watching the news and I saw Wellington International Airport - and it reminded me of the carpet (yes I watch the news....woah! humina humina - poledancing). I should have worn my glasses when I looked at this pic. The image has flat diagonal strips (due to deinterlation) but also has heavily shaded - semi-ribbed sections that Pugin definitely would have shaken his fist at.
If the designer pushed his method a little further, due to the spatial properties Pugin could be scratching his chin.
When I see this carpet it is not instantly clear this is a carpet because the pattern on it has realism and depth, the carpet is soft, stones are hard. Pugin was against illusionary design and pretending a material is something else, so I believe he would be against this carpet
ReplyDeletewhat would Owen Jones have said about this carpet? Maybe someone can design a less illusionistic version and pitch it to the wellington airport.
ReplyDelete