How the Powers of Ten has changed my thinking of things as a designer
The “Powers of Ten” has changed the way I view and conceptualize the world around me. The relative size of things in the universe and the effect of adding another zero can entail countless nuances of interpretation. Space within a space creates a myriad of dimensions where our eyes see different shapes or aspects of a form depending on a changing perspective or angle of view. The movie was quite interesting and as a designer, it made me think in colossal terms when tackling numerous projects. When the zooming was happening in the video, it made me reflect how the contained space were to increase in size, the larger space would begin to lose its impact as an enveloping form.
The ideas embodied in the movie “Powers of Ten,” influence me as a designer because every design decision that I make during pre-design planning or conceptual design, I need to connect it with the client, criteria design, detailed design and budget. The movie made me think more of these things and how I would relate each step to the next and move forward in a project. At times, I need to go back to the first step (conceptual phase) and see if there are more ways to explore it because there could be more deliverables that I could connect to a project. To quote Charles Eames, “Everything eventually connects.”
The movie is affecting my designing in the current project as well. There has to be a visual and spatial continuity between two spaces which can be accommodated but also the smaller, contained space depends on the larger. The volume of smaller space is shared by the larger space, a key theme in the movie. The latter theme, as well as perception will be a fundamental guide for my current project.