Christoph Reuss wrote:
>
> Brad McCormick wrote:
> > This mens room in my company's new office is remarkably depressing.
> > (No windows.) Grey tile on the walls, and a combination of grey and
> > pink tile on the floor. Too low lighting level. [...snip...]
> >
> > I recall a German phrase which I will not be able to spell right:
> >
> > Dunkel ist [das] Leben, ist der Tod
> > (Life is dark and so too is death.)
>
> Truly a troublesome situation, considering that many people have their
> best creative ideas in the bathroom. And think of the depressions this
> dark bathroom will foster!
[snip]
This is true to my experience. In the previous office's
bathroom, which was "cramped" but well lit with natural light and
close to my workspace, I would take a book into the toilet
stall with me and read for a few pleasant minutes. No more!
I just want to get out of this new "no-rest room" ASAP.
Also: In my graduate studies, when I did not have
an office and found the library noisy, etc., I did a lot of
studying in the men's room.
Maybe this is somewhat analogous to other forms of "splitting"
in our society -- the most obvious of which is to offer the
"consumer" the lowest possible prices by cutting the "producer's"
wages to the bone, where consumer==producer. A "rest room" has
many other attributes besides conducting excrement out of the
area and permitting the washing of germs off hands. No, let me
put that differently: a rest room *can* have many other
attributes, and it can have very different kinds of other attributes....
Let form follow function -- provided we understand that
"function" is generally not exhaustively specifiable
beforehand, but
rather is in dialectical relation with actual unfolding use.
+\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua NY 10514-3403 USA
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
