The Fun Theory

I just watched the ‘piano stairs’ video the other day on another site and thought,’ this would make a great landscape project.

I think designers tend to take themselves and their work a bit too seriously sometimes. Hyper-intellectualism and complex theories may work well in the studio, but the end product must be tangible and accessible for the average user. I’ve said it before that I think design is moving in the direction of rewarding ‘design for designs sake.’ Projects seem to err on the side of purely aesthetic or purely functional. A professor at CSU told me once to do do what ‘I think would be cool.’

It makes you wonder how many great ideas have been stymied in stuffy conference rooms.

It’s a very good topic – I love the piano steps..but why is not Olmsted’s Prospect Park, that paragon of democratic values and passive recreation in the landscape, not part of the ‘fun theory’…? Or is it..
I do not know any other examples, but I am going to strong- arm my fellow LA’s to consider it in their designs..As long as not too energy-expending ..what was the carbon footprint of the piano steps, compared to regular steps?

Now that I think about it, aren’t properly designed steps fun – it is the 7-8″ riser with the short 12″ tread that makes it painful..

I can think of two sets of steps that were fun through design – at U of Penn, the campus design (highly controversial as to who it is attributed to..) has a set of long steps, 3″-4″ risers, 2″ to 4’ treads, where every step is on a different foot – it feels like a back massage..!
and anyone who grew up in Beirut knows the ‘stinky steps ” so called because of their use as a bathroom by men over many decades..But they were 1,000- 2-000 steps that one could just run down, to get to the elementary school..the urine smell adding some element.. hard to say what..
so is ‘fun design’ better done as just ‘good design ‘ – the standard concrete 6-7″ riser and short 12″ tread we have long known to be absolutely wearying..Compare to the lovely steps at Dumbarton Oaks…

brilliant, seriously….i love it. makes you think about all the other stuff in our lives we see as mundane that could be a daily source of enjoyment, if only for a minute in our days….thanks for sharing brent!

Carbon footprint? really Trace? just think how much extra energy the people are expelling… ahhh extra carbon dioxide from rapid exhales due to elevated heartrates…. the glaciers are definately shrinking due to the “fun steps”. Another argument between go figure! How much energy can you save if you can shut down the escalator?

I geuss I have to re-iterate my point that ‘fun design’ is ultimately just good design – all the fireworks are not needed..The difference between a tiresome staircase with 6-7″ risers and 12″ treads, and a ‘fun’ 2″ riser with 3′ treads – that is good design versus boring design..Yes, one has to fit the space…But you do not need an electronic piano keys to make fun design – you just need good landscape design, and let people free in it..It is the difference between providing a real mile long meadow in the middle of the city, to simply platting out the private baseball fields with concession stand.. Of course both are best, but why is a well-designed landscape staircase not fun?

Interesting comments and thoughts. I enjoyed the clip of the bottle game and it makes you think about how we do design for pure function, how we design for liability and how we value engineer the hell out of project so they are not fun. Seems like the easy way out and as designers we need to think more about the user experience if we want to create landscapes and product that last.