Design and Truth Book

“If good design tells the truth,” writes Robert Grudin in this path-breaking book on esthetics and authority, “poor design  tells a lie,  a lie usually related . . . to the  getting or  abusing of power.”

From the ornate cathedrals of Renaissance Europe to the much-maligned Ford Edsel of the late 1950s, all products of human design communicate much more than their mere intended functions. Design holds both psychological and moral power over us, and these forces may be manipulated, however subtly, to surprising effect. In an argument that touches upon subjects as seemingly unrelated as the Japanese tea ceremony, Italian mannerist painting, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello plantation, Grudin turns his attention to the role of design in our daily lives, focusing especially on how political and economic powers impress themselves on us through the built environment.

Although architects and designers will find valuable insights here, Grudin’s intended audience is not exclusively the trained expert but all those who use designs and live within them every day.

The Barnes & Noble Review

At his most compelling, Grudin examines the design of the World Trade Center and creates a narrative of its construction that shows just how the lie came to be. Compelled by various authorities to maximize rentable space, Yamasaki -- the project's architect -- removed stairwells, pushed the support structures to the buildings' hulls, and enlarged the towers until they became a grotesque offense on the skyline. Each of these design decisions exclaimed the priorities of greed over the people who would live and die in its space. It was not foolishness or ignorance that made the Twin Towers susceptible to attack, but rather an express desire to value profit over humanity that invited their destruction.