Abdallah-Arc En Ciel *: Design in Our Lives

Last Monday we went the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA),and the purpose of our visit was to observe the art works that are exposed in the art deign gallery. We were assigned to focus on the Architecture section located on the third floor. I had a chance to enjoy those wonderful pieces of art work, which stimulate my imagination to think about the predictable life we may have. We were instructed by our professor to write a reflection about our visit; I chose to write about the high functionality and low functionality art works.

Carna folding wheelchair was a perfect example of the high functionality art works. I chose this design, because this chair will improve handicapped life, and it will be easy for them to use to fulfill their basic needs. This chair will help them depend on them self, have positive impact in hospital setting, because it will help doctors and nurses to displace the patient easily so that they can get the appropriate care they deserve.

According to MOMA website, the Artist Kawasaki was interested in bringing technology and fine craft closer together. He stated that "Older people, handicapped and normal people are separated in today's Japan, so designers need to make designs that are kind and caring and need to treat more handicapped people equally in society. . . To be a visionary designer I want to design products for myself first."

Wave Multi-Tool is another example of full and high functionality art work, it’s a great sized tool, and it was my favorite selection, because it’s very useful and helps in multi-task achievement. It has wire cutters, clip point knife, serrated knife, saw, scissors, wood/metal file, diamond-coated file, large bit driver, small bit driver, two double end bits, large screwdriver, ruler, and bottle or can opener. I believe that this tool will help make people’s experiences with job maintenance and different types of manual work much easier.

“Forks” was one of the designs that had a low functionality work. It had a weird shape, and it will be hard for people to use as a fork, because of their shapes it may be dangerous. These forks design are not symmetric as the one we use today. It will be hard to use these Folks to pick up food. I strongly believe that these Folks are not the best for daily use.

"Platter" was the last piece of work I chose as a low functionality work. It’s designed as tree leaves. It was smooth and well done. We may use this platter to present some kind of food. However, this platter is not useful for all kind of food. This design is good but is not totally practical.

Finally, design plays a vital role of our live. Design is a part of our life. Some designs have a great value and high functionality, while others are unworkable. Artists work hard in order to design a good art work that has a full functionality on our daily use.