Design elements in engineering has a certain element of beauty that adds value to its usability and functionality. Can it be termed as an aesthetic philosophy of design or machine art?
Dear Mr. Gokul,
Both terms will send us to a conceptual conflict between, at least, three dimensions: first, a subject set of values to find for what some reason justify classifying a product or service art, that means, individual values with a lack of objectivity; Second: a set of scientific records that will always hide the objective approach to call the design as art - which means being far from the subjectivity and, so, are scientific thoughts acting as art judgments; Third: we could establish a specialized group as to determine what should be called art in the case of engineering. Those conflicts are the same, in my opinion, that the field of art, generically, has to face contemporaneously.
Cheers from Brazil!
Hello Souza, thanks for the interest. In my opinion, subjectivity and objectivity are not totally isolated concepts, instead they represent reality in different ways. What looks subjective at a closer vantage point becomes objective in a wider perspective. Hence we cannot classify either art or engineering as purely subjective or objective, instead they will have the elements of both. Aesthetics always represents a qualitative analysis of a quantitative phenomena or process. Hence there is no contradiction or divergence in the term 'Engineering aesthetics'.
Yes, I believe it can. consider an item that is engineered to fit into someone's hand. If that item somehow conforms to the hand in terms of appropriate dimension, ability to apply force (say for example in a screwdriver), and continuity of action then these are aesthetic properties defined using engineering terms. The fact that they are comfortable and easy to use adds to their 'beauty'. Visual appearance can be seen as a way of assessing this usability.
Another example may be aerodynamic flow over a vehicle. Perception of this flow can be associated with terms like 'sleekness' and 'fluidity', which in many people's eyes can be considered things of beauty. In this way reduction of drag factor can be seen as an aesthetic property.
Gokul,
If I understand your intent correctly, then I think you may get more mileage by considering the field of "design" as opposed to the field of "engineering". There are treatments of design that succeed (I think) in integrating these different aspects without contradiction. Richard Buchanan's papers on design theory provide a nice jumping-off point if you haven't already seen them.
Another concept that might be interesting when considering the 'visual utility' of an object is "affordance". Something not often spoken about in engineering, but used all the time in the field of design.
Sean
If you want great examples of aesthetic engineering you have to look no further than living systems. The relationship between form and function is never so 'right' as when we observe the locomotion of animals as diverse as cheetahs and centipedes.
The Indian Institute of Technology has set up a new school in Jodhpur - 'Biologically Inspired Systems Science'. Among a number of projects they are trying to develop engineering systems based upon living systems in order to exploit their extraordinary efficiency.
I believe there to be a close relationship between the aesthetics that we may observe in the locomotion of animals and their energy efficiency.
Engineering and aesthetics are, of necessity, drawing closer together.
Until we fully understand how the energy efficiency of animals is achieved a definition of the relationship between aesthetics and engineering is difficult. However, we may speculate initially, that living systems are very good examples of systems in which discontinuities are almost completely removed. Dynamic biological systems all seem to involve the integration of elements in a seamless way.
My own research suggests the possibility that in future engineering systems will be rooted in catalytic processes. Recent research implicates the soliton as the fundamental mechanism of enzyme catalysis. Solitons are found at every scale in biological systems - they seem to have the property of effecting change but also, and crucially, they also embody information. From this I would speculate that the 'new engineering' will involve the gradual removal of the distinction between information and energy.
The new engineering will be wave based - and beautiful!
You might want to check Simondon "On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects.”