[Cob] Why are people drawn to design inspired by nature?

[Mark Piepkorn]

Or are they? Looking for dissension, argument, clarification - please
contribute your thoughts at the link below. Pretty sure Shannon will find
this teetering on the edge of off-topic (if not already toppled over)... but
I figure there may not be anyone better suited to address this question than
cobbers.

- - -

I received an email from a Design student at Kingston University (London)
writing a dissertation on "why people are drawn to design inspired by
nature." Three questions were sent; I went overboard answering the first
one, and basically wussed out on the second two. I'd be interested in your
takes on this highly subjective stuff, and will be sure to let our
dissertation author in on the discussion.

1. Why in your opinion are people so drawn to design inspired by nature?

I don't think everyone is drawn to design inspired by nature. Some like Le
Corbusier's buildings at their boxiest, and contemporary glass and aluminum
offices and homes, and Danish Modern furniture, while others like
nature-inspired design... simply because they do. There's no accounting for
taste. I know that speaks to the shallowest part of peoples' immediate and
visceral reactions to aesthetics, but I think that most of the time —
especially in this day and age — that's all there is to it. It's certainly
not true of everyone, but most people in these harried times never have any
need or desire to consider why some fashion appeals to them while some other
fashion doesn't. It is what it is, and there are ten thousand other urgent
things to attend to. If pressed, they'll tend to latch onto any available
notions that support their position without actually considering them. Look
to politics as an independent example of that. Trying to detangle
rationalizations from pure impulse is a tricky business. It would probably
be a much better world if more people tried.

Read more...
http://www.buildinggreen.com/live/index.cfm/2009/10/13/Why-are-people-drawn-to-design-inspired-by-nature
or
http://bit.ly/BiEFb