The Nature and Art of Workmanship A Book by David Pye www.bloomsbury.com That which requires caringMass production of variable productsFrom hands to machinesEmploys nothing at allWhat is Folk Craft? designmakingcraftstyle
The Nature and Aesthetics of Design A Book by David Pye books.google.com Any imaginable shapeUseless work on useful thingsPresentableThe principle of arrangementThe minimum condition+35 More More real than living manThat which requires caringThe informing idea of functionalism designaestheticsmakingstylecraftbeauty
What is this static modernism? Why can't office buildings use doorknobs that are truly knob-like in shape? What is this static modernism that architects of the second tier have imposed on us: steel half-U handles or lathed objects shaped like superdomes, instead of brass, porcelain, or glass knobs? The upstairs doorknobs in the house I grew up in were made of faceted glass. As you extended your fingers to open a door, a cloud of flesh-color would diffuse into the glass from the opposite direction. The knobs were loosely seated in their latch mechanism, and heavy, and the combination of solidity and laxness made for a multiply staged experience as you turned the knob: a smoothness that held intermediary tumbleral fallings-into-position. Few American products recently have been able to capture that same knuckly, orthopedic quality. Nicholson Baker, The Mezzanine The door handle is the handshake of a building modernismdoorstouchobjects