The reality regarding common people’s expectations from landscape architects has some interesting trajectories with the story of Amul Butter.
Amul butter started off as a social co-operative in milk trade emerging from an amorphous group of milkmen and butter vendors who dabbled in milk products. Slowly and surely, it built up a reputation of product quality that reached the common man, while effectively short-circuiting the very factors that affected the same once upon a time- middle men and the perishable character of milk and milk products if left unattended.
Over the years, the social network evolved into a Federation and apex body that served the interest of the consumer by providing quality products and a value for money. It started off by putting Polson butter out of business, while other brands like Vijaya, Milkfood, Mother Dairy and Britannia with their palette of flavors, tried to be different from Amul. However, consumers, in market surveys and their feedback to the local grocer, confessed that none of them tasted like Amul- the familiar benchmark for butter and the very brand these were out to shake up if not displace.
One can infer that consumers were not interested in experimenting beyond self-established taste and notions.
The landscape architect started off as a professional emerging from an amorphous group of architects, civil engineers painters and gardeners who dabbled in site planning and environment(al)design. Slowly and surely the landscape architect built up a reputation of making natural environments accessible to the common man, while effectively short-circuiting the very factors that affected the same once upon a time- status quo and the perishable character of intervened landscapes if left unattended
Amul butter started off as a social co-operative in milk trade emerging from an amorphous group of milkmen and butter vendors who dabbled in milk products. Slowly and surely, it built up a reputation of product quality that reached the common man, while effectively short-circuiting the very factors that affected the same once upon a time- middle men and the perishable character of milk and milk products if left unattended.
Over the years, the social network evolved into a Federation and apex body that served the interest of the consumer by providing quality products and a value for money. It started off by putting Polson butter out of business, while other brands like Vijaya, Milkfood, Mother Dairy and Britannia with their palette of flavors, tried to be different from Amul. However, consumers, in market surveys and their feedback to the local grocer, confessed that none of them tasted like Amul- the familiar benchmark for butter and the very brand these were out to shake up if not displace.
One can infer that consumers were not interested in experimenting beyond self-established taste and notions.
The landscape architect started off as a professional emerging from an amorphous group of architects, civil engineers painters and gardeners who dabbled in site planning and environment(al)design. Slowly and surely the landscape architect built up a reputation of making natural environments accessible to the common man, while effectively short-circuiting the very factors that affected the same once upon a time- status quo and the perishable character of intervened landscapes if left unattended
Over the years, the profession of ‘Landscape Architect’ evolved to serve the interest of the site, clients and architects by providing a quality product- the site as designed/managed space- and a service which gave value for nature, outdoors and land. It started off by putting the architect out of contention for outdoor design and site management, while trying to be different from others like gardeners and municipal park designers and their ubiquitous palette of finishes. However, clients, in meetings and at site, and in their feedback post-completion, confessed that none of the landscape architect’s works looked like the common municipal garden- the familiar benchmark for designed open spaces. The Landscape Architect- the very brand they associated with as a part of their project now faced a shake up if not displacement.
Can one infer that clients were not interested in experimenting beyond their own established taste and notions?
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