“What is it all for?” is a question that John Pawson asks in one of his interviews. I use it, as I imagine he does, to select ideas that make some meaningful contribution to…what?
What is the purpose of the thousands of new designs we see in Milan, Frankfurt, London, Stockholm etc.?
Obviously there is the function and usefulness, aesthetics, beauty and even art, and perhaps satisfying the need for novelty and stimulation. Who is to say which one of these legitimizes a design?
It seems to me that all of that activity does serve a purpose. It is progressive refinement by the time honored evolutionary method of trial and error.
Here are some examples from MOST, Zona Tortona and Ventura Lambrate.
How would you answer the question “What is it all for?” ?