Frank almost never started a design with a predetermined shape. He liked to begin by “playing”—a word he used far more often than “working” when he talked about how he went about designing things—with wooden blocks of different sizes, each representing a portion of a building’s functional program. He would then stack or array the blocks in what he

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Playgrounds over Paths

Today's standard design wisdom focuses on the design of linear paths. Sometimes they may branch, but they're ultimately a sequential set of steps towards a desired outcome.

Within complex systems, these paths often lack the flexibility to adapt to emergent conditions - users acting outside the "designed boundaries".

Instead of... See more