Saturday 19 March 2016

Commonalities between different design fields

Similarities in the work of two Master Designers: 
Frank Lloyd Wright (architect) & Franco Scaglione (aerodynamicist and car designer)


In this post, I argue that the philosophy behind the various fields of design is similar; I believe they originate from the same artistic, intuitive part of the brain.

Kentucky Knob House (aka Hagar House) designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Pennsylvania, USA, 1956: 


Wright combines a sense of repose and tranquility by his the integration of the house within the landscape, and expresses the exciting sense of flowing spaces under the sheltering elegant roof.



Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale, 1957, designed by Franco Scaglione:


Scaglione creates a sense of speed, motion and obvious aerodynamic efficiency and achieves exceptionally smooth, sculptural integration of the roof and glass forms with the lower body. The whole form is reminiscent of a shark, one of natures most aeronautically efficient creatures.


The above car photographs were taken in 1986 at Sandton City by myself and my 14-year-old son. He has a good eye for photography!

I studied industrial design as well as architecture, and so have become interested in many design fields: furniture, interior, product. Landscaping I studied informally. Car design has also interested me  helped by lifelong interest in cars and Grand Prix racing. 

I have always been intrigued by the design and creative areas of the human brain, and enjoy cross-pollination of fields. Two of the postwar Grand Prix Formula One drivers have also been concert pianists (de Angelis and Sutil). When asked, they reckoned it was equally difficult to play through a Beethoven piano concerto or sonata well and without error, as it was to drive a single, fast qualifying lap at Monte Carlo! They said the practice and concentration required were the same, and that small errors would only be known to themselves, not the audience! Our neighbours are professional musicians with the Amsterdam Concertgebou and other internationally famous orchestras. What they describe in the classical music field sounds as if the same part of the human brain/spirit is used by designers, painters, architects, writers, etc. Surprisingly a very experienced, retired Formula One driver Dave Charlton once described to me his driving of a particularly difficult corner in much the same manner, words and feeling as our musician friends used.


Talking of cars and music, it is quite extraordinary that wind instrument designers/ manufacturers (flutes, saxophones, trumpets,etc) use and apply the same science as racing car exhaust pipe designers! Both deal with pressure waves, back-pressure, gas volumes, tube diameters, etc, yet the two never meet. In the history of grand prix car design, 
the mechanical engineers (engine men) designed the chassis structure too, usually badly, until at last some pure structural engineers from the aircraft industry became involved in the late Fifties.

As I've always been involved in gardens, plants and then landscape design, in 1982 I wrote piece for a magazine which explained my philosophy: that it was not the plants that formed one's major impression/feeling about a landscape, but it was the spaces. Like the village plaza/place/piazza, it was the proportions and not the buildings that had greatest effect on us, but this was registered in the subconscious. Our western education has brainwashed us into 'seeing' only solid, material objects. When I was a student a talented sculptor told us what was most important in chair design, was the spaces around it. Took me years to discover what he meant. Imo it applies to all design fields and to music: the silences between the notes are as important as the notes, in creating the whole, major impression.


1968 residential landscape, Highlands North Johannesburg



This was my first landscape design. Done for our family home, design and development was from 1958 to 1968. My parents, brother and I did the physical reshaping work, my father kept the lawns mowed, my mother was the main planter and gardener. It was a typical Johannesburg suburban 1/4 acre property with the house placed in the middle, the garden of original 1936 geometric planting and pathways.

This view was from the entrance driveway looking past the front of the house. I tried make the house appear lower and belong to the landscape and to create a secluded and tranquil landscape. An appearance of greater space was by means of the soft, flowing shapes of the lawn-plantings, generating longer vistas and a sense of enticement to walk around and explore hidden spaces beyond planting areas.



Residential landscape, Highlands North, Johannesburg 1968: I learnt from Simond's erudite landscape book that an important element of a landscape is providing secluded plantings from which one could see but not be seen. The informal lawn-planting shapes extend the vista in this small garden and encourage one to wander and discover what lies around the next planting.

Residential landscape , Benmore Gardens, Sandton, 2000


This landscape was created from scratch for our third new-built house 'Highveld',on a 1/4 acre property, and developed from 1983 to 2000. My wife Florence was responsible for most of the work, planting and maintenance. This view through the archway was to separate the garden into smaller spaces and create an impression of longer vistas, the differing spatial experiences making one feel the landscape was bigger than the actual, physical area.


Residential landscape, Benmore Gardens, Sandton, 1983-2000: the principal plant elements that formed the spaces were the 45 trees indigenous to the area. As the trees grew larger, lawn areas were replaced with brick paving.  This enabled smaller spaces to lead one through the garden, providing an experience greater than the physical area. Since 1968 it has been my policy to specify and plant only trees indignenous to the area. In this case the original tree types attracted nearly 50 bird species and within five years families of bush babies/nagapies took up residence. They too had been indigenous to this area.

Aluminium-framed Easy Chair with green upholstery, 1978.


This chair was designed as a knock-down item for easy home assembly. My intention was  to incorporate a sense of inviting comfort, ergonomic correctness and stability. 

Residential interior, Benmore Gardens, Sandton, 1983. 


My intention was to create a light, airy, restful and tranquil room. There are no harsh contrasts that cause pupils to dilate and contract, causing tiredness.

© Patrick O’Brien. Nothing from this page can be used without the permission of Patrick E. O’Brien.

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