"Design is art that makes itself useful."
Die Neue Sammlung, design museum, Munich
Another fine day as I was maintaining my streak of being late for work, I made my way into one of Melbourne's trams. The heavily crowded tram could afford me only a little space to stand. As people got off along the way, I suddenly found myself leaning against something that immediately captured my thought.
I can only hope my photograph has captured some of the essence of what I want to talk about here. I am unsure how this would be named in the manufacturing world, but for the purpose of this post, I'd like to call it a 'Rest'.
For the purpose of this post, I'd like to call this a 'Rest'
As simple and trivial as it may look, the idea of its design is what really was attractive to me. From what I know, the design of an object is characterized by its form (appearance) and function (usability). While form and function are not exhaustive in characterizing design, they are not exclusive either. Their interdependence is hardly debatable, but the chicken and egg precedence analogy has been consistently applied to form and function.
No matter what took the precedence here, personally, I believe the 'Rest' is a wonderful...operational marriage between both form and function. Understandably, this might seem rather unconvincing for readers to appreciate based on a picture, but this is a really efficient solution for saving space on busy trams and subways while making sure passenger comfort is not sacrificed. If you are still not convinced, I'll try to be a little more vivid at the risk of sound like a pervert. Out of curiosity, I observed people (without prejudice) perch their buttocks on this 'Rest' several times and have never sensed a hint of discomfort. From what I see, it is quite a hit on the Melbourne trams. The shape, curvature, height and position of the cushion is most convenient!
My hometown Bangalore is slowly....really slowly inching towards its own Metro system and considering the sheer population, a crowded subway is anybody's prediction. I believe this is an arrangement that definitely needs to be considered by the builders of compartments. Having a compartment with only seats instead would not only waste space, but also works against the onslaught of passengers wanting to step into or out of the train.
