React for Feb. 16th: Culture and design Interrelated

Everything we do, think, and see can be related back to culture so it only makes sense that design and culture are also interrelated.  In our readings Hall talks about the perception of what people see visually and how people actually see it.  For example, based on the enviroment we live in, a building can be precieved differently.  Most likely the building will serve the same fuction universally such as a house however, the difference will be in scale and layout.  The difference in perception  is highly influence by the culture we live in thus this is what designers must take into account.  One would not design a European style house and place it on an American farm because culturally it would be too small.  In Hall's reading there is a disscusion about the cultural influence in the design of kitchens.  Most men do not spend as much time in a kitchen therefore male designers look more to asthetics in designing a kitchen.  The reading says that designs such as this leave out how a kitchen is actually viewed therefore many times their is awkwardness in space, too tall of cabinets for women, etc.  This is all related back to the different cultures in how women visualize and spend time vs. how men visualize and spend time.  When looking at how design and culture are interrelated in realation to the movie Bebetta's Feast, we can clearly see the cultural difference in Swedish dinning to French dinning from the food, to the table set up, and the lighting during dinner.  When we look around the globe one can see definite distinctions in how culture influences our ideas of design.