Steyn Viljoen
@steyn
Designer at CustomerOS. Gardener. Dad. Write at Viljoen Space about product, gardening and parenthood.
Steyn Viljoen
viljoen.space
Spearman was right that people differ in their ability to solve well-defined problems. But he was wrong that well-defined problems are the only kind of problems. “Why can’t I find someone to spend my life with?” “Should I be a dentist or a dancer?” and “How do I get my child to stop crying?” are all important but poorly defined problems. “How can... See more
Adam Mastroianni • Why Aren't Smart People Happier?
Steve Jobs’ motivation was to express a gratitude for the human species — and he did this by putting care and love into things he made.
— a synopsis of one of Jony Ive’s answers from the interview between Jony Ive and Anna Wintour in RE:WIRED 2021.
“I cannot say exactly how nature exerts its calming and organizing effects on our brains,” the poetic neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote in the dawning years of the twenty-first century, “but I have seen in my patients the restorative and healing powers of nature and gardens, even for those who are deeply disabled neurologically.”
Maria Popova • The Healing Power of Nature and Beauty: Florence Nightingale on Expediting Recovery from Illness and Burnout
Like the tiger, we dream of the savannah, the rainforest and the mangrove swamp. We want to hunt and fuck and bask in the sun. We want to climb trees and drink from freshwater streams. We want to pursue our true calling and live to our full potential. I believe this desire is in every one of us. And when it’s suppressed long enough, we rebel.
... See moreJonathan Carson • A Call to Rebellion: A New Story About Depression
feelings are basically anything non-verbal you can access through introspection. A lot of this corresponds to actually physical sensations in your body….
David R. MacIver • Labelling Feelings 101
Live Fuller, Not Bigger
Live Fuller, Not Bigger
It was then I realised architecture is not about creating structures that are aesthetically pleasing or merely functional: it’s about designing spaces that evoke emotion and resonate with the human spirit. The Farnsworth House may have been a triumph of modernist design, but it lacked the warmth and humanity architecture should embody.
Today we’re building boring products because we struggle to go much deeper than “I’m alright”. Going deeper is the difference between experiencing the Sagrada and The Telephone Building.