Sometimes a serious threat creeps up on the world because nobody is paying attention. My duty as a design rambler requires me to issue a warning that the world is becoming overchaired.
My research reveals that the world faces a distinct danger to floor space from the proliferation of designer chairs. Apparently, designers have come to the conclusion they must each design at least one chair as a demonstration of their ability to design a chair. As designers multiply (and this is proceeding apace as, aided by computers, everybody is becoming a designer) the number of chairs has increased to the danger point. I have three proofs.
The first one I call the MOMA Proof. I came to realize this when I searched MOMA's Design Collection and found that it contains about 500 chairs. Since it is common knowledge that MOMA collects only the very best examples of designs and since we may safely assume that the best of anything can never be more than one in a thousand (some would say one in a million, else why the popular phrase?) we can conclude that there are at least 500,000 types of chairs in the world. Some of these may exist in hundreds if not thousands, possibly tens of thousands of copies. By extrapolation we therefore conclude that there are presently almost as many chairs as there are people in the world and that in a few years chairs will outnumber people to the point where people will either have to sit or lie on beds. There will be no walking room.
The second proof is called the "Look Around" proof. If people will look around their homes and offices and count the number of chairs versus the number of people they will quickly realize they are outnumbered by chairs.
The third proof uses classical mathematics and is relatively easy to grasp for those who have advanced degrees in that subject.
With this formula we can express the number of possible chairs designers can theoretically design in the remainder of the Twenty-First Century. As you can see, the number can easily surpass the number of atoms in the universe. Another formula, for which there is no room here, proves that the universe is not expanding as rapidly as the production of designer chairs.
Fortunately, at present there are many places known as dumps or landfills where designer chairs may be deposited. However, as chairs begin to outnumber the asses available to sit in them we may run into a problem with available space. It is unlikely that the proposal by NASA that they be given a new mission of transporting designer chairs to the sun in robot spaceships will be cost effective.
A number of solutions exist, none of them consistent with freedom of design. Laws may require stackability or foldability of some chairs. This may buy time. Governments may institute a licensing process whereby designers will have to apply for permission to design a chair. It may even reach the point where the authorities will make chair design a crime and pay a bounty for the destruction of chairs. I will return to this topic. Due to time and space limitations I must yield the chair now.
My research reveals that the world faces a distinct danger to floor space from the proliferation of designer chairs. Apparently, designers have come to the conclusion they must each design at least one chair as a demonstration of their ability to design a chair. As designers multiply (and this is proceeding apace as, aided by computers, everybody is becoming a designer) the number of chairs has increased to the danger point. I have three proofs.
The first one I call the MOMA Proof. I came to realize this when I searched MOMA's Design Collection and found that it contains about 500 chairs. Since it is common knowledge that MOMA collects only the very best examples of designs and since we may safely assume that the best of anything can never be more than one in a thousand (some would say one in a million, else why the popular phrase?) we can conclude that there are at least 500,000 types of chairs in the world. Some of these may exist in hundreds if not thousands, possibly tens of thousands of copies. By extrapolation we therefore conclude that there are presently almost as many chairs as there are people in the world and that in a few years chairs will outnumber people to the point where people will either have to sit or lie on beds. There will be no walking room.
The second proof is called the "Look Around" proof. If people will look around their homes and offices and count the number of chairs versus the number of people they will quickly realize they are outnumbered by chairs.
The third proof uses classical mathematics and is relatively easy to grasp for those who have advanced degrees in that subject.
With this formula we can express the number of possible chairs designers can theoretically design in the remainder of the Twenty-First Century. As you can see, the number can easily surpass the number of atoms in the universe. Another formula, for which there is no room here, proves that the universe is not expanding as rapidly as the production of designer chairs.
Fortunately, at present there are many places known as dumps or landfills where designer chairs may be deposited. However, as chairs begin to outnumber the asses available to sit in them we may run into a problem with available space. It is unlikely that the proposal by NASA that they be given a new mission of transporting designer chairs to the sun in robot spaceships will be cost effective.
A number of solutions exist, none of them consistent with freedom of design. Laws may require stackability or foldability of some chairs. This may buy time. Governments may institute a licensing process whereby designers will have to apply for permission to design a chair. It may even reach the point where the authorities will make chair design a crime and pay a bounty for the destruction of chairs. I will return to this topic. Due to time and space limitations I must yield the chair now.
No comments:
Post a Comment