Less is the New More
LESS IS THE NEW MORE - OLD IS THE NEW NEW - OLD IS THE NEW YOUNG
Do you ever get the feeling that sometimes you read something that is so complex yet it actually says everything and so obvious…..like Nike “Just Do It” or “Easy Jet”, or…..well I got this from the KLM (which, by the way, must be Dutch for “Total Fuckup Airline”) Onboard Magazine…. LESS IS THE NEW MORE. (This has actually stimulated by the German/American Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe motto “Less is more” .)
The KLM Herald Magazine do this trend spotting thing with global trend guru’s (which some may interrupt as “Total Waste of Good Blue SkyTime”) and they came with the suggestion that LESS IS THE NEW MORE. With the bombardment we have had over the last years with all things environmental, this must be the ultimate statement: we have to be doing things better. i.e. we have to be doing things more efficiently and ultimately think about the environment.
Now, being the eternal Property Developer (which, by the way, is definitely “What A Waste of A Good Life”, especially if you apply this “skill” (sic) in Portugal), I immediately started to think what this must mean in the construction industry, and of course I came up with the idea tag line “OLD IS THE NEW NEW”. It’s so obvious.
Throughout Europe we have been saying (for too long) that the housing sector needs to make refurbishment of the existing housing stock the priority. Municipalities have been saying that the renovation of the urban areas is of vital importance in order to maintain the cities urban structure. And environmentalists have argued that we cannot just keep destroying our buildings after 20 or 50 years: It’s just not sustainable. However, I believe that we ought to be defining what this “renovation” actually means, as it’s not just a question of taking out the old and putting in new. Yes it’s the easy option, however, we should be looking at the building extremely carefully and reusing every single piece of material where possible. And the bits that we cannot use, we should be looking to recycle.
Which probably means that we may well be looking at other areas that we can be adapting this trend.
Take middle age. I mean, my Mum and Dad were old at 50….and here I am at 55 and I am absolutely convinced that there has been a mistake on my birth certificate, cause I don’t feel a day over…..ahhhh….. 33….. So, could it be that OLD IS THE NEW YOUNG…..I mean, oldies are bringing an added value of experience, know-how, vision, certainly understanding of life that is well beyond our years. Or should I just be put out to “grass”…..now there’s a nice thought…..
