Connectedness as good design
“The idea of connectedness is the intentional, creative focus on detail and patterns. How everything holds some sort of relationship and becomes more of the sum of its parts.”
This is a story I first shared as part of my talk at the UCD Gathering virtual conference in June. It’s about the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh.
They worked together over a century ago, with Charles now recognised as one of the very finest Scottish architects, designers, and artists. It’s also now recognised (but less so at the time because of social norms) that Margaret was a significant collaborator and partner, combining their work in groundbreaking architecture, furniture, and graphic design.
One of the pivotal moments of my interest in design came from a school trip to The Glasgow School of Art, Mackintosh Building, 27 years ago – an experience that stuck with me.
The building has since suffered catastrophic fire damage and is part of a very challenging restoration project. I was lucky enough to visit a couple of other times before the fire in 2014.
This is modernist design from over 100 years ago. But what made the Glasgow School of Art unique was its extraordinary attention to detail, both inside and out. Every aspect of the design, from the structure of the building down to the furniture and decorative elements, was carefully considered. Everything connected.
From my very first visit, I remember the famous Art School Library and how the details of the interiors and furniture were designed with as much care as the exterior of the building itself.
Analytical precision, but with creative eyes
Connectedness is good design. It’s something you can see and feel. A harmony and a level of attention to detail in how patterns are continued across both decorative and practical elements.
You can see this elsewhere in great architecture and with great artists. It’s also one of the first things you learn in design school. How a chair belongs in a room, and how the room has a relationship to the building that houses it, etc.
In architecture, connectedness shapes how we experience physical spaces and environments. But I think the same can be true of how we think about the design of services.
Where is the connectiveness of how we receive health care or housing support, thinking about the coherence of the relationships and patterns in those systems?
101 Things I Learned in Architecture School
To bring this further to life, I go back to a little book I still recommend to people: 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School by Matthew Fredrick. It’s the sort of book you find in art gallery shops and describes the idea of a parti [par-TEE]: something shaping and informing every aspect of an overall configuration.
“Some will argue that an ideal parti is wholly inclusive – that it informs every aspect of a building from its overall configuration and structural system to the shape of the doorknobs.”
This is an important idea that can be applied to any type of design work.
The idea of ‘wholly inclusive’ makes a lot of sense, especially if applied to the design of services and systems. It means we need a central organising idea.
In architectural terms, that might be expressed as a simple diagram or sketch. While in service terms, it might be patterns or design principles. However this is approached, it’s the ability to create a connected whole from the sum of its parts. And then the ability to implement something in ways that respect the importance of that detail.
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