blogdesignandthevisualfalloffuel

   design & the visual fall of fuel     20.08.2011

   arne jacobsen 1937 skovshoved, denmark

   lothar gotz 1953 (ish) BP weisbaden, germany

golly’s garage 1938, earl’s court london, england

joseph fujikawa 1967, nun’s island, canada

damilano studio architects 2011 piedmont italy

The other day I was driving down Elgin St and when I got to the Nicholson St intersection (where Elgin St, Carlton becomes Johnston St, Fitzroy) I noticed the new building on Nicholson St that had replaced Gianarelli Monumental Masons (next to the servo). To call it a building might be stretching it. In fact this thing is so bad that I’m not going to pollute this blog with a picture of it. Suffice to say that it’s a car wash that is basically made from really crap signage. Doesn’t even have a Venturi duck out front; this mess is all decorated shed.

Which got me thinking…

Why is it that some areas are so immune to using good design to improve both their business and contribute to the visual environment of the communities they operate in? Is it because the corporation as an entity is at odds with good design? Apple would suggest that it doesn’t have to be.

I’ve watched over the last few weeks as the Shell service station opposite Make has undergone a transformation that, given labour hours and materials, probably cost Shell at least $100,000. Shell are no doubt rolling out this upgrade around the country and when you consider how many sites they must have in Australia there are many millions involved.

And yet I’m struggling to notice the difference between the old Shell servo across the road and the new one!

And both are crap.

I’m sure a moron (the collective noun) of MBAs could explain why they need to “reinvent” the company’s sites on a regular basis but if what you are replacing it with is essentially the same are you really only doing it because it’s “world’s best practice” to do so.

Rant over.

In the spirit of progress I offer Shell and their competitors a look back at the wonderfully diverse and eclectic mix of fuel retailing from a time when the motor was humming and the world was alive with the scent of a future that didn’t include crap visual pollution.