Essays

To put it plainly, it is the design of the object that dictates its use. But is it really that simple? Is the user really always right?

I want to use my last blog to share with you and remind my future self of all the main takeaways from this class that were transformative for me, summed up in the following ten points.

Flags. What is a flag but a waving logo? We talk of branding and its utility in representing ourselves outwards. A flag is possibly the best manifestation of how that same energy stands if redirected inwards.

Anywhere you look around in Mexico City, you’ll see colorful handwritten signs called rótulos.

Of course, you are not perfect. You have flaws. You and yours have made mistakes. And having returned after eighteen months away, my eye and expertise honed a bit more, I can finally put words to our friction.

In theory, the Gate Towers were grander in every way. Yet I instinctively thought that they looked wrong when I saw them, as if they were a rip-off of Singapore’s. Where do we draw the line in originality in Architecture?

NYUAD is diverse. Yet, nationality is not the only way to measure how diverse we are. How about ability?

The purpose of inclusive design should not be highlighting differences; Instead, it ought to create a system that does not need to bring these differences into the equation.

As the clock struck quarter past, all the students asked, “Where has Professor Goffredo gone?” He’d never been late - indeed he often lay in wait, so obviously this event carried some weight.

As designers, we must refuse to specialize. It’s the only way to continue coming up with new things and with true solutions. Take in everything in equal measure. Demand to understand it all.

On how to design to create spaces or circumstances to allow for and acknowledge vulnerabilities