Monday, April 16, 2007

Contemporary Design_part II by Kelly Stevens

In the design world today, there are several different "directions" in which modernism is taking. Previously, the international style has been the most prevalent theme seen in modern design after World War II due to the spread and developments of air travel, making country to country travel take only hours. Communication has developed through the use of internet and other devices which make communication easier and faster no matter what the distance. This caused more influences to be seen world wide. However, now other sub-styles are beginginng to emerge conerning modernism: Hi Tech, Post-modernism, revival of tradition, and Late modernism. My question is this: in the future, which one of these "sub-styles" do you see becoming the more dominant theme to be used? Do you think international style will still be the most prevalent, or because of the fast developing technology that in the future all design will become high-tech based? Or, have we already stretched modernism out too far and feel the need to return to traditional modified classic styles? Because design is such a broader and more in demand occupation these days, will there be no over-riding theme to unify the term "contemporary", but instead just have a hodge-podge of individual styles?
-Kelley Stevens

18 comments:

Mallory said...

I think the last sentence of the post could be a sad but true statement regarding design of the future- it could very well be just a hodgepodge of various design elements. I think the whole idea of today's contemporary design is just pushing the boundaries as far as possible- whether thru technology, materials, or the exploitation of the elements and principles. The bottom line is, right now design could end up anywhere- thru the modernization and constant evolution of everyday objects, I don't know if design will be able to stay stagnant long enough to be considered a "style." Only time will tell, but I'm going to have to lean more towards "hodgepodge."

Mdrees said...

I agree with Mallory but I don't think it is sad that its a hodgepodge style. We are exploring things that in the past wan't an option. For instance we have technology now that lets us have more control and more design flexility in our environment. I think as the world becomes smaller (faster communication), new styles will develop and influnce other styles. This will make no clear divisions between what it what. I think this allows poeple to be creative and innovative as they want.

spees said...

Currently, I don't believe that there is a consensus in style betweeen designers. It is all individual yet most all designers in this day and age seem to be pushing the boundaries of materials and abstracting the traditional building. Frank Gehry is perhaps most famous for this with his seemingly flowing buildings where movement is the big factor and strict boundaries seem lost. But this is also true with designers like Rem Koolhaas who designed the Prada retail store and many others is pushing boundaries by adding a "half-pipe" wall inside a store is pushing what would have been earlier a crazy idea that may have never happened. So, overall I believe there will no longer be periods of styles but we will have a hodge-podge of individual ideas and styles, which perhaps is the only way for true originality in this world today because of the easy access of communication between continents.

emily said...

I believe that design will always be diverse and subjective. For example, there will always be individuals who will need or prefer high –tech design, such as Richard Fullers' United States Exhibit Pavilion, while other clients will prefer post-modernism or traditional styles. Nevertheless, I believe that technological advances will determine the style of the future because design can not stay the same for a long period of time. Both high tech and classical styles will remain because there are diverse groups of people who will choose these styles.

Caitlin said...

Design is always evolving. That is what makes everything be pushed to the next step and what allows new designs and new possibilities to be created. Each designer today has the knowledge of the past, and with the current possibilities that can actual happen through engineering and materials, those design possibilities can seem endless. This is where each individual designer takes there own ideas and creates something from that realm of possibilities that every designer can draw from. So, I agree that currently there is a hodge podge of styles, but since each designer is pulling from the past, and has the same pool to draw from today, I believe that in the end, the styles will be able to be generalized.

kinseyjanzen said...

I think that there will be a lot of different styles looking back on the present. I would not call it a hodgepodge, since that has negative connotations; rather, I would call it a variety of different styles. In the past, time can be divided into one style at one time; now, we realize that design is more creative than just going along with whatever everyone else at the time is doing. I think that the varieties of styles will be able to be broken up into catagories of styles, but they will all be different through the elements and principles of design.

Mary Margaret said...

This is a really interesting question because it is hard to tell what the future is for design. All we do know is that we are just going to get more and more advanced with technology opening many doors for possibilities. I do feel that design right now is what Mallory said with pushing the boundaries, trying to find the newest, most out there idea for a design that no one has seen. It is also past styles being seen throughout design but just like it has already been said a hodge podge of design elements all mixed together seems to be what the future could look like.

1368kentucky said...

I believe in Eclecticism. I believe that Eclecticism is a good thing. The term Hodgepodge implies a lack of cohesiveness. Things don’t have to match in order to exist in harmony. In residential spaces most typical homeowners prefer an eclectic home.
I also believe that specific styles can and will prevail based on the function of the space. For example older generations will want to dwell in more traditional spaces while younger may prefer a late modernism. Industries and businesses will most likely gravitate to a Hi Tech style.

brittanyg0321 said...

I definately think we are moving more towards individual design styles as opposed to one design that can generalize a whole group. Many of the more popular designs we see today take pieces from the smaller sub-design styles and make them their own so in a way many interconnect. Design is an ever changing profession and at any given time you may be inspired. With todays technology, its ok to try and mess up and keep going because its much easier to fix a mistake. I think the mix of designs is helped because of this forgiving new technology.

G.Fickle said...

I think that design will continue in all different styles. I think that this hodge podge lends to a good contrast within the design field. I do believe that hi tech design will continue. As new technologies are invented, the probelm arises as it did during the Industrial Revolution, what should they look like. This question will most likely be answered with high tech style to go along with its hi tech technology.

Joyce T said...

I feel that with so many designers trying to create a unique style, a hodgepodge of design is the style that prevails. Technology definitely has an effect on design, but that doesn’t mean that all designs will look the same. Some designers will go back to traditional, some designs will look more modern. I feel that in this day and age, designs depend on the designers and the desires of their client. Everyone wants to be unique so I doubt there will be a uniform style.

Brad said...

I think that though there is a hodge-podge of styles today,there has always been a hodge-podge. Even stretching back to the Romans who took from the Etruscans etc... I believe that in the future the style will be a mix of the hi-tech and the post-modernism, the traditional with the late modernism. In our world today the idea of a truly pure style that conveys the idea and emvodies a single style is completly abstract. Fifty years from now we will know what they called this period but right now it is covered with the blanket answer of contemporary.

algrun2 said...

I believe we have pushed modern design really far and have stressed it throughout the last century. However, I still think this will still be th focus of the next century to come because preconcieved notions of modern desin seen on television and written about, encourage high-tec futuristic design. People imagin a world similar to the Jetson's and I believe it an internaltional race to see what countries will get there first.

edperr2 said...

Yes, the growing number of people in society has left a gap in between what was once thought to be good design and what it actually means to have a good design. Because of all the different styles that have taken some sort of mixed form there is little distinction that makes it possible for a particular designer to gain fame. There are so many guidelines for how design should go now days with codes and the newly emerging green movement that although designers are bound by terms and semantics they are ever searching to create for society what Brunelleschi, Greene and Greene, or Koolhas have done... masterpiece. But, since no one style has been able to conquer, besides for the strive toward efficient and clean spaces, no one has been able to create the defining piece or pieces of our time while being able to firmly state that it is the best and most defining style.

estee said...

I feel that all of the technoloical advances coming to us in the future will create the most advanced style of modernism seen to date. I personally hope that some tradition will stay with us but I don't know. There

Becca Cole said...

Just like in the past there is always a group of designers that are willing to push the boundries of design. And since there are more materials and technology to pick from, I feel, there is no way to guess where we will be in 10-15 yrs with design. As many other people have posted the "hodgepodge" style could continue to happen, which my question is: how is that a bad thing? It mite just end up helping us figure out what the next "new" style is going to be.

brittney said...

I think that it is quite obvious that the present and future of design are largely influenced by the continual advancement in technology, as it always has been, but as of now, it has begun to develop so quickly that we have such a great opportunity to be innovative designers. I do, however, have to agree with the assumption that design is and will turn into a 'hodgepodge' of sorts, due to the fact that we live in a time where we have so many resources and insights to both the past and the future and because today personal choice and freedom of choice are stressed so much in everything we do. Individualism is and is becoming the basis for all design, and in that there are going to be ties to the past and hints of the future, and it is for this very reason, that I think that, as designers, we have a lot to look forward to.

algrun2 said...

Modern design doesn't have to neccesarily be a hodgepodge. It seems as though innovation is the new inspiration of today's design. In the past people have always studied the actions of precessors and tried to recreate what has been done but in the 21st. century I believe the focus is less about where things came from, but where are they going? It's a race to see who is going to be the ultimate designer and who can be the most technologically advanced.

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