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Why is it harder to design a beautiful cruise liner than it is to design a beautiful work boat?

Why is it harder to design a beautiful cruise liner than it is to design a beautiful work boat?
Why is it harder to design a beautiful cruise liner than it is to design a beautiful work boat?
Ship design needs to respond to and attract an ever more design conscious society. However, little research has been conducted into perceptions of beauty and pleasure and how such perceptions can be usefully absorbed into ship design. Aesthetic consideration, is seen as a distraction from the bespoke nature of the ship design process and is often avoided, second guessed or left for external consultancy. The ship design discipline requires the nurturing of its own aesthetic methods, for future development, and to adapt some of the aesthetic ideals found in architecture, art and design.

This paper argues that philosophy can be effective in interpreting what the passenger finds attractive and pleasurable. To illustrate the philosophical approach proposed, the `Elbe SWATH’ and the `Oasis of the Seas’ are investigated and compared using theoretical resources from the culturally focused philosophy of `Functional Beauty’. Conclusions suggest that the interpretation of the end users most valued appreciations can lead to design directives that deliver subjective qualities of beauty - beauty similar to those seen in the pure aims of the Elbe SWATH’s purposeful work craft, or comparable to nature’s beauty and purity in aim.
2048-7541
37-42
Sheridan, J.A.
9b5e6c31-6ca2-44c0-a456-debb83f52f1a
Shenoi, R.A.
a37b4e0a-06f1-425f-966d-71e6fa299960
Hudson, D.A.
3814e08b-1993-4e78-b5a4-2598c40af8e7
Neill, Alex D.
356f9035-0820-4df8-838d-94b5bd219814
Sheridan, J.A.
9b5e6c31-6ca2-44c0-a456-debb83f52f1a
Shenoi, R.A.
a37b4e0a-06f1-425f-966d-71e6fa299960
Hudson, D.A.
3814e08b-1993-4e78-b5a4-2598c40af8e7
Neill, Alex D.
356f9035-0820-4df8-838d-94b5bd219814

Sheridan, J.A., Shenoi, R.A., Hudson, D.A. and Neill, Alex D. (2012) Why is it harder to design a beautiful cruise liner than it is to design a beautiful work boat? Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, Part C, International Journal of Marine Design, 154, 37-42. (doi:10.3940/rina.ijnxl.2012.c1.12).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Ship design needs to respond to and attract an ever more design conscious society. However, little research has been conducted into perceptions of beauty and pleasure and how such perceptions can be usefully absorbed into ship design. Aesthetic consideration, is seen as a distraction from the bespoke nature of the ship design process and is often avoided, second guessed or left for external consultancy. The ship design discipline requires the nurturing of its own aesthetic methods, for future development, and to adapt some of the aesthetic ideals found in architecture, art and design.

This paper argues that philosophy can be effective in interpreting what the passenger finds attractive and pleasurable. To illustrate the philosophical approach proposed, the `Elbe SWATH’ and the `Oasis of the Seas’ are investigated and compared using theoretical resources from the culturally focused philosophy of `Functional Beauty’. Conclusions suggest that the interpretation of the end users most valued appreciations can lead to design directives that deliver subjective qualities of beauty - beauty similar to those seen in the pure aims of the Elbe SWATH’s purposeful work craft, or comparable to nature’s beauty and purity in aim.

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More information

Published date: July 2012
Organisations: Fluid Structure Interactions Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 345913
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/345913
ISSN: 2048-7541
PURE UUID: 73ae916c-138f-4c5c-89c4-3ae91b524ee5
ORCID for D.A. Hudson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2012-6255

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 05 Dec 2012 15:25
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:48

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Contributors

Author: J.A. Sheridan
Author: R.A. Shenoi
Author: D.A. Hudson ORCID iD
Author: Alex D. Neill

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