Houses and user interfaces
Yesterday I was flipping through a thick book of some of the most famous modern houses. It struck me that I didn't really like most of them. There were nice details in many, and there were a few where the overall look was interesting, but my reaction to the majority was "When will architects learn to think outside the rectangle?" One of the houses that I did like was from Mexico, where they'd used the adobe style of rounded edges, but the overall shape was still rectangular.
Today, I read an interesting article on eye candy vs. bare-bones design in user interfaces, which in turn linked to another article on the use of rounded rectangles on the Mac. In it, Professor Jürg Nänni, author of the exemplary Visual Perception, is quoted as saying "A rectangle with sharp edges takes indeed a little bit more cognitive visible effort than for example an ellipse of the same size. Our "fovea-eye" is even faster in recording a circle. Edges involve additional neuronal image tools. The process is therefore slowed down." Rounded corners, curves and particularly circles are easier on the eye. That may be why I find so much "simple lines" architecture and design so ugly.
Today, I read an interesting article on eye candy vs. bare-bones design in user interfaces, which in turn linked to another article on the use of rounded rectangles on the Mac. In it, Professor Jürg Nänni, author of the exemplary Visual Perception, is quoted as saying "A rectangle with sharp edges takes indeed a little bit more cognitive visible effort than for example an ellipse of the same size. Our "fovea-eye" is even faster in recording a circle. Edges involve additional neuronal image tools. The process is therefore slowed down." Rounded corners, curves and particularly circles are easier on the eye. That may be why I find so much "simple lines" architecture and design so ugly.