Sometime back on this blog I wrote on a couple of topics, one around whether you really need an interior designer and another on the “design” element in interior design. Interestingly, last night I came across an old TED talk that takes the above expression even further

The talk (it’s more of a conversation) is between Saul Wurman (the co-founder of TED) and Frank Gehry one of the legendary architects of our time. The crux of  Gehry’s talk is around the fact that most customers miss out on the real value of an architect.
I feel this is something that applies equally to interior design, when the customers expect just “carpentry” while the game is really about personal expression.

Gehry says & I quote
“Most architects when they present their work — most of the people we know, you get up and you talk about your work, and it’s almost like you tell everybody you’re a good guy by saying, “Look, I’m worried about the context, I’m worried about the city, I’m worried about my client, I worry about budget, that I’m on time.” Blah, blah, blah and all that stuff. And it’s like cleansing yourself so that you can … by saying all that, it means your work is good somehow. And I think everybody — I mean that should be a matter of fact, like gravity. You’re not going to defy gravity. If you don’t meet the budgets, you’re not going to get much work.
 
But my point is that … and I call it the “then what?” OK, you solved all the problems, you did all the stuff, you made nice, you loved your clients, you loved the city, you’re a good guy, you’re a good person … and then what? What do you bring to it? And I think that’s what I’ve always been interested in, is that — which is a personal kind of expression. And I think that’s the issue, you know; it’s the “then what” that most clients who hire architects — most clients aren’t hiring architects for that. They’re hiring them to get it done, get it on budget, be polite, and they’re missing out on the real value of an architect.”
That’s it from me for now
Signing off
Nandita