I love this presentation by Philippe Starck, world renowned designer, during a TED presentation on design. When he talks about "duty of vision" and how our field of vision affects our own evolution I can't help but think about recurring issues in Ottawa where there seems to be a misdirected vision or perhaps a lack thereof in the city (e.g. Lansdowne, Sparks Street, Laurentian High School, etc.) Here's the thing:
- Looking straight down, you have barely any chance of survival
- Looking angled down, you can survive but in a selfish way
- Looking ahead, you begin to live in society
- Looking angled up, you become more important to civilization
- Looking straight up or back, you're trapped
Like Starck said, if you follow the history of our evolution, in four billion years we went from a "stupid bacteria" to a "super-monkey" and we still have another four billion years to go. "The bacteria had no idea of what we are today and today we have no idea of what we shall be in four billion years."
The problem is "every generation thinks we are the final one". But we're not. We're only half way through and there so much potential to do a lot more, to do better and that means change. Going against change, is like going against our own evolution. I'm not saying that we should completely forget about the past, but it shouldn't stand in the way of the future. I think this is a problem in many cities including Ottawa where often when change is proposed many oppose.
What do you think?
