ARCH 642 Challenge vs. Comfort

Rem Koolhaas explains to us that designers used to come up with really unique and groundbreaking ideas that were unpredictable and maybe even controversial. But now, designers have gotten into this rhythm of predictable and safe designs that don't challenge the designers or the users of the space to have to think about it. We design spaces for specific people and only those specific people tend to congregate there. It used to be that designers could create a space that would apply to multiple types of people and therefore would allow for a variety of humans to come to the space, spurring social interaction with new types of people. Many designers now are afraid to take a chance and try something new and crazy because they fear being ridiculed and rejected.

This is an example of a "comfort" plaza. It is safe, symmetrical, flat, and predictable.

This is a "challenge" plaza. It has a sense of danger, has a giant curve that people can climb on if they desire to, and has multiple levels of space.

While both spaces are intended for people to spend time on and congregate in, they are completely different in design. There is nothing in you that desires to walk to the other side of the safe plaza because you know that it will be the same on one side that it is on the other. But there is a part of you that wants to climb the curve on the challenge plaza, a part of you that wants to run down it or sled or just see what the view is from up higher. The challenge plaza creates different types of spaces for all types of people, not just one massive space for a few types of people.