Flat roofs have existed since very early in the history of building. They are wonderful living spaces (as terraces), and can be used to collect water. But since rationalist, post WW2 architecture they have become commonplace in cities: commercial buildings, housing projects, corporate buildings, almost all have flat roofs. Paradoxically, for an extremely functionalist architecture, there is almost no function for flat roofs. Flat roofs are just easy to build and spare you the effort of thinking of, let alone constructing, more complex structures. As of late, some flat roofs have been colonized by roof gardens and solar power plants, and we can just hope that the trend continues. Still, there is something about the shape of a roof that should attract more design attention. Here is a...

Icons are icons. The Hilton Hotel is an icon. A token-icon, in the sense that there is only one brand around. The smartphone is an icon: a generic icon, as there are many different brands of smartphones. Diversity in the case of smartphone cancels out because of function: one needs an object that can support both holding and reading on screen, the design of shape converges on a rectangle with rounded angles. Accidents happen. The Hilton Paris Opera Hotel at Gare St. Lazare in Paris, as seen from above, or on a map, has (almost) the shape of a rectangle with rounded angles. Roadwork around the Hilton disrupts the circulation. Signs are posted to help pedestrians find their way. On those signs, the Hilton rectangle is represented by an icon that further simplifies its shape – and...

Mangrovia is the place where Roberto Casati and Goffredo Puccetti talk about design. This conversation has started in December 2013. We are interested in the intellectual intricacy of design. We keep our eyes open on good and bad design – equally important for us. Equally important are theory (mostly from cognitive science) and practice (mostly form communication and process design).     Mangrovia è dal dicembre 2013 la bacheca appunti di Roberto Casati e Goffredo Puccetti sul design. Il design ci interessa per la sua complessità intellettuale. Cerchiamo intorno a noi esempi di buono e cattivo design e ne parliamo prendendo spunto dalla teoria (soprattutto dalle scienze cognitive) e dalla pratica (soprattutto dalla comunicazione e dai processi...

Mangrovia is the place where Roberto Casati and Goffredo Puccetti talk about design. This conversation has started in December 2013. We are interested in the intellectual intricacy of design. We keep our eyes open on good and bad design – equally important for us. Equally important are theory (mostly from cognitive science) and practice (mostly form communication and process design).     Mangrovia è dal dicembre 2013 la bacheca appunti di Roberto Casati e Goffredo Puccetti sul design. Il design ci interessa per la sua complessità intellettuale. Cerchiamo intorno a noi esempi di buono e cattivo design e ne parliamo prendendo spunto dalla teoria (soprattutto dalle scienze cognitive) e dalla pratica (soprattutto dalla comunicazione e dai processi...

Mangrovia is the place where Roberto Casati and Goffredo Puccetti talk about design. This conversation has started in December 2013. We are interested in the intellectual intricacy of design. We keep our eyes open on good and bad design – equally important for us. Equally important are theory (mostly from cognitive science) and practice (mostly form communication and process design).         Mangrovia è dal dicembre 2013 la bacheca appunti di Roberto Casati e Goffredo Puccetti sul design. Il design ci interessa per la sua complessità intellettuale. Cerchiamo intorno a noi esempi di buono e cattivo design e ne parliamo prendendo spunto dalla teoria (soprattutto dalle scienze cognitive) e dalla pratica (soprattutto dalla comunicazione...

Mangrovia is the place where Roberto Casati and Goffredo Puccetti talk about design. This conversation has started in December 2013. We are interested in the intellectual intricacy of design. We keep our eyes open on good and bad design – equally important for us. Equally important are theory (mostly from cognitive science) and practice (mostly form communication and process design).     Mangrovia è dal dicembre 2013 la bacheca appunti di Roberto Casati e Goffredo Puccetti sul design. Il design ci interessa per la sua complessità intellettuale. Cerchiamo intorno a noi esempi di buono e cattivo design e ne parliamo prendendo spunto dalla teoria (soprattutto dalle scienze cognitive) e dalla pratica (soprattutto dalla comunicazione e dai processi...

Mangrovia is the place where Roberto Casati and Goffredo Puccetti talk about design. This conversation has started in December 2013. We are interested in the intellectual intricacy of design. We keep our eyes open on good and bad design – equally important for us. Equally important are theory (mostly from cognitive science) and practice (mostly form communication and process design).     Mangrovia è dal dicembre 2013 la bacheca appunti di Roberto Casati e Goffredo Puccetti sul design. Il design ci interessa per la sua complessità intellettuale. Cerchiamo intorno a noi esempi di buono e cattivo design e ne parliamo prendendo spunto dalla teoria (soprattutto dalle scienze cognitive) e dalla pratica (soprattutto dalla comunicazione e dai processi...

Mangrovia is the place where Roberto Casati and Goffredo Puccetti talk about design. This conversation has started in December 2013. We are interested in the intellectual intricacy of design. We keep our eyes open on good and bad design – equally important for us. Equally important are theory (mostly from cognitive science) and practice (mostly form communication and process design).     Mangrovia è dal dicembre 2013 la bacheca appunti di Roberto Casati e Goffredo Puccetti sul design. Il design ci interessa per la sua complessità intellettuale. Cerchiamo intorno a noi esempi di buono e cattivo design e ne parliamo prendendo spunto dalla teoria (soprattutto dalle scienze cognitive) e dalla pratica (soprattutto dalla comunicazione e dai processi...