Bridge Building Still Not Brutish

Anyone can design a bridge that will never fall. Anyone. I recognize that statement could come with some backlash, so hear me out. If the only job of the bridge builder is to build a bridge that won’t fall, one could use six hundred times the amount of concrete needed and two thousand times the amount of steel required to guarantee the bridge will stand. 

That’s not what makes a good bridge though, is it?

The art and, ultimately, the value in engineering isn’t in the ability to build a bridge that won’t fall, it’s to build a bridge that won’t fall with minimal materials and time. It’s about the utility of the bridge. And, it’s the art of engineering that is building a bridge that looks nice to the eye. Julien Pineau was the first person I heard offer up this over-built strategy. I’ll never forget its a matter of fact nature. 

Great design (of any kind) isn’t so crude in being valuable because it 1) technically works and 2) it won’t break. In fact, zero automobile manufacturers win design awards for that reason. “The 2000 JD Power & Associates Design Award goes to…. McLaren for  its new roadster that when push comes to shove will drive and it’s parts continue to not fall off.”

Silly, right?

Right. Great design is a process of stripping away. It’s aesthetic and functional  essentialism. Even training systems fall into similar trouble spots. Imagine the training program that requires twenty hours per week to complete (and twenty-five percent of athletes are injured by it)?

“But, it works!”

Of course, it works. It’s a full time job! I’m interested in how much of this statuesque workout program is straight up wasted clay. 

Look around for and acknowledge great design. Chances are you’ll find it at the crossroads of form and function. It will surprisingly lack waste.