Leadership and Design

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/travel/23bilbao.html?ex=1348200000&en=a6e21cb6af418074&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Its funny how coincidences happen. On my TV I dont get any of the pay channels that we are used to in India. So the other day I switched on BBC and watched an interesting program on the Agha Khan (find out more about this guy, by clicking on the name) award for architectural excellence. On the program they talked about how a covered market was designed and built in Africa, and how it got the pride of the local community. It seems like leadership (and I mean community leadership) can emerge from the Fountainhead of archetectural brilliance. Sydney Opera House comes to mind. Check out this article and see another buidling that has had a significant impact on the community it belongs to. It seems that one characteristics that they all have is a degree of audaciousness, the willingness to see a building as an art project and not just a way of engineering the most efficient and durable structure.


http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/sep2007/id20070921_545251.htm

The second article talks about a niche that I have always believed in passionately. Designing for people with special needs. Somehow when it comes to special needs, people assume that aesthetics are not important. Or maybe its just some sectors.. I dont know. I am amazed looking at the machine I am using now... at how long the stupid computer looks just like what it is. Has no one ever thought of a different kind of case? How about woodfinish...would that look cool on a desktop? Why does it come only in Black and Grey ? There are some mysteries of the universe that I will never understand.