In this lecture I was particularly interested in Jerry’s suggestion that we should “love our user groups more than we love our designs”. From Jerry’s perspective a beautiful esthetic does not succeed unless it serves its user group. Van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair, and Eames’ Molded Plastic Chair were both cited as examples of design which succeed esthetically, but which fail ergonomically. Jerry also criticized the mass production of chairs, stating that the ‘universal’ chairs manufactured by companies like Herman Miller and Ikea do not account for ergonomic differences among users. While I agree with Jerry’s user centered bias, I must admit that the esthetic of a white leather Barcelona Chair allows me to forgive its ergonomic errors! -Katie
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