Taste

Aesthetics are a well discussed aspect of bridge design but the influence of regional culture, ie taste, is not. The subject of subjectivity is inherently difficult to define but for bridge designers working across geographical and cultural borders, an awareness of cultural context is an essential if inaccurate tool. Variances in regional thinking significantly alter the way a design is perceived and cultural pitfalls abound. This paper examines issues of taste observed through the experience of an ‘international' designer working across disparate locations and diverse cultures. The nature of the subject is such that the discussion can serve only to highlight the significance and wildly varying nature of taste, not to act as a field guide. A key observation is the broad correlation between climate and taste articulated in the ‘couplet' “latitude = attitude”

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