EDITORIAL
P
raise Science! Without this inspired—some might say
Divine—gift, where would we be? History is littered with
pundits who questioned your virtuous progress. Today,
more than ever, you inform and improve every aspect of
our world.
But is the Deus ex machina, the sudden, precipitous
alteration of a path today, a necessity, given the uncanny
rise of a surreal parallel machine world, one which threatens
in some instances the simplest of humane intentions?
"No," said the young designer, "There cannot be a crown
molding like that."
"Yes, Robert Adam did it in the 18th century," was the
reply.
Clearly the young designer was probably not familiar with
the AutoCAD feature that included this particular design.
The back story is that he had not heard of Robert Adam,
of the family of Scottish architects and designers. Nor,
did he know much about Bauhaus. "My computer gives
me the shapes and forms" was his mantra.
True, design and architectural computer programs are
liberating, revolutionizing the objects we use and spaces
we occupy, providing spectacular aesthetic results.
But, in every aspect of the human endeavor we must
assert that the important role of machines is to support
rather than supplant human ingenuity, that to ignore vast
stretches of history in an obsession with the machine is
HYLAND