design x parkour

design x parkour
the problem with purpose

the paradigm of purpose is problematic. the idea that the value of a thing is determined before its existence changes everything. it changes the way people live, the way things are used, the way we make sense of existence.

when design is driven by purpose, we create a specification that describes what something isn't by spelling out what it is. and when its creation is driven by economy, we ensure that the thing we make is no more and no less than the specification. what's wrong about that?

let's design a table. let's decide its purpose is for working. let's define work to be computer work. so this table can be described to be a surface raised to waist level so that computers can be put on it. let's say we want to be able to put computers and books on it so it should support up to 100kg. we can then describe the surface to be made of a wooden panel, supported by metal legs. this gives us a framework for costing and pricing decisions. what's bad about this?

we created a wooden surface to support 100kg. by doing so we decided it does not need to withstand greater loads such as when two adults need to stand on top of it to change the fluorescent. it does not need to withstand sideway impacts such as when your dog runs into it. it is not sturdy enough to be makeshift bed. or a shelter during an earthquake. in a way, it comes with all sorts of terms and conditions that we do not see when we look at it. we see a table, a thing. but it is not a table. it is the embodiment of a design specification. it is not a thing, it is a set of rules in physical form.

that's the problem. our physical experience of the world compels us to see things. but we no longer create things. we cannot understand the nature of the objects before us without understanding the context of its design. we need to read the user manual to know if something can be stacked, or washed, or taken outdoors, or thrown away. we live in a physical world that is increasingly complex to maneuver, and at the same time we as a society are simply assuming that people will somehow understand these things without some sort of education.

parkour to me is that education. it teaches how any terrain can be explored safely. it deconstructs the objects before us, taking apart the set of rules it represents and reconstructs it as a real object. and when we see what is really in front of us, we are better primed to navigate it.

when we move in parkour, we are interested in how we interact with the environment, how we interpret the terrain and listen to its rhythm. we are interested in expressing how we are understanding the things in front of us, beyond the prescription of its designer.

by most standards, purpose is how the world is getting built today. every action needs a budget and every approval needs a justification, a purpose. but when we are moving across a terrain, we experience how inadequate the lens is purpose is, and how arbitrary the motion of justification can be.

not every existence needs a purpose to be of value. not things we create. and certainly not you.