(from John Connell)
Greetings, Yestermorrow Designer,
Please
forgive my recent foolishness.
Remember
this imperious invitation?
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED....
The Design Field Team
(aka: The Design Amigos) will meet regularly to discuss planned school projects
and other design topics. The Team will
not have authority to block or promote any project, rather it intends to become
a respected voice in the broadest conversation possible about design.
Conventional and online
meetings will take place no less than once a month to support ongoing discourse
around various design initiatives. In
the spirit of inclusion, a wiki will be
created to give larger numbers access to the design conversations (i.e. Foswiki
, Twiki, etc).
Really? Design Amigos? Broadest conversation possible?
I
mean, who has time for meetings once a month, endless writing and who knows
what
else? Generally, people regularly
engaged in design are not looking for ways to normalize
it, right? We seek opportunities to distinguish our work,
not masticate it. What was I
thinking?
And
yet, Yestermorrow desperately needs your help....as a designer.
So, permit me one more
request.
If you have any serious interest in, or experience with,
architectural design, please
consider a trial tenure with Yestermorrow's Design
Amigos. We need your voice. (There
will be few if any requirements; no
dues, no funny uniforms. Just respond to
this email
with, "I'm in!" and we'll put you on the Design Amigos
list serve.)
The design dialogue at Yestermorrow has grown
perilously vague. Worse, it has become
weak to the point of frailty. After
thirty years of innovation and forward thinking,
Yestermorrow can ill afford to
let the design component of what we do languish. So (Rah!
Rah!) let's pull together a group of
design/builders interested in discussing (and publishing)
the design of all
things Yestermorrow. It will help the
school and it may just help your
own work at the same time.
Finally,
in an honest show of humility, I am attaching my own response to the original
call
to arms. As I addressed those
issues I began to realize how difficult it was to put design
criteria into
actionable wording. Writing is
tough! Like design, there's always room
for
improvement. Nevertheless,
frustrating as it was, the exercise was gratifying. Since
there are few subjects that I would
rather take a shot at, the effort was rewarding.
In
a similar vein, I look forward to convening the Design Amigos at the earliest
possible
date. So please, just let us
know if you're interested by June 15th.
