Sensible Answers Only

The class were looking enthused, and were even more engaged when they were told by the guest there were no right answers to the questions they were being asked. So, pens poised, creativity sparked . . . and then the teacher said “sensible answers only”.

There is an old adage amongst courtroom lawyers that you should never ask a witness a question to which you do not already know the answer. Otherwise, you risk being wrongfooted by unexpected responses that may not support your case.

But the whole point of creating a useful brief is to ask open questions in a way which is open to new answers. So, fewer ‘sensible’ answers please, and more ‘sensibility’ (defn: the ability to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences).

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ICT

There is something about the term ‘ICT’ that surgically removes any sense of excitement about the possibilities of techology to transform our lives. In a recent discussion with a younger colleague about the learning potential of websites such as Facebook I realised that for her the use of such social networking tools are simply the way life is lived today.

Information, Communication, Technology: a very inelegant way of saying ‘the way life is lived today’. ICT is no longer a potential, or an opportunity, it is a fact. The challenge is to come to terms with this fact in our design of school buildings.

My generation make jokes about asking teenagers to come to our rescue when technology refuses to speak our language. However, when we design for technology we continue to give greater weight to our own painfully acquired understanding. For me, acknowledging the generation gap is about accepting what I don’t know, and asking those who do – whatever their age.

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Homework

Working with The Children's Parliament in The Royal High School building on Calton Hill was a great experience in a great building. Just being there was a powerful reminder of two obvious design lessons.

Firstly, the significance of space. Being in an environment with architectural presence reminds everyone of all ages that the way your surroundings look and feel affects the way you behave, and the perceived value of what you are doing.

Secondly, the history of a place is important. What a place stands for, and what it means to its community, goes way beyond the architectural merits of its columns and cornices. People define buildings.

We asked the children to think over the next few weeks about how they feel in different spaces, and to ask questions of themselves about why they respond the way they do. It’s homework we should all be doing if we are to create new buildings with resonance and significance.

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Vanilla Essence

For a long time there was a misconception amongst some developers that magnolia was not a colour. As in ‘we didn’t want to use a colour so we painted the rooms magnolia’.

In all types of design we are occasionally blind to key features which are the perverse result of not making a decision – like the automatic default settings on our technology. Not all unthinking decisions are bad – but it’s a dangerous way to spend a lot of money.

A common fear about more analytical approaches to design is that we will inevitably end up with ‘vanilla’ design: design without heart or expression, like wind tunnel designed cars, or magnolia painted rooms. Underlying these fears is the suspicion that if we think too much about design we will be less creative. There is one compelling rebuttal of this – it is not true. Quality design comes from quality of forethought. Good design is not an accident or a default - and it is never inevitable.

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The Wrong Questions

Does it work? I get asked, as I’m shown a school plan for the first time.  Do you think it’s fit for purpose?  asks my guide around a new school.  What’s wrong with our schools? asks yet another single minded journalist.

 

My response is to answer a different set of questions.  What can we learn from this plan? Do we have a clear purpose?  What‘s great about our schools?  By persisting in our search for mistakes we make it harder to explore the new: we make it harder to change.  Change is not a constant - it is a risk we take to make the world better.

 

Perhaps we ask the ‘wrong questions’ so often because we have already made up our minds about the answers.  If we know all the answers then design has little purpose. Questions are central to challenging and transforming our environment.  Good design is both a difficult choice made and a thoughful answer to a genuine question.

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