Recently, I’ve been thinking about the genius of simplicity and how it eludes almost everyone everywhere – in design, art, writing, culture, and communication. We tend to unnecessarily complicate and embellish to the point where it overshadows the intended message.
When I was “Googling” for the best quote on the subject, I realized that geniuses know their genius lies in their ability to simplify the complicated.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
“The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” Albert Einstein
“Writing that lacks simplicity reveals thinking that lacks understanding.” Shane A. Parrish
“Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” Isaac Newton
“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” Coco Chanel
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci
“Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius.” George Sand
“Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, simplicity emerges as the crowning reward of art.” Frédéric Chopin
History is filled with case studies of the profound effects of how simple solutions and executions beat over-complicated ideas.
And real estate is no different.
If you’ve read my blog or worked with me, you’ll know how outspoken I’ve been about architecture and interior design that pays tribute to the ego of the draftsman without respect for the integrity of the user.
In homes, peace is found in rooms that allow you to breathe without distraction. My favorite spaces are simple. Odd-shaped rooms driven by a starchitect’s whacky facade are less successful than regular-shaped rooms. Have you ever tried furnishing a bedroom shaped like a triangle? I have. It was stupid.
I see impractical designs all the time. Columns are located right in the middle of the living rooms. Windows the size of dinner plates in a room the size of a basketball court. Ceilings that drop in the most random places. Apartments with bedrooms that wouldn’t fit beds but have a half-bath that could hold a football team. $12M condos with no closets. Facades that ignore light and air for some ridiculous art design on the side of the building. The list of dumb shit is so long.
To this day, the buildings that have proved to be the best-selling and offer the best investment over the long term are the ones that are sound in their development and design. They aren’t weird vanity projects or ones that look like spaceships. They are beautiful, PRACTICAL homes that live inside beautiful, practical buildings. It’s really so simple.
Side Bar:
Reading a fantastic book by Anderson Cooper, Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune. If you are into New York City real estate, I am guessing you are if you are reading this blog- this book is a must-read. Fun fact: The last Astor heir, Vincent Astor, converted an old sheep barn in Sands Point, NY, into a temporary summer home in the early 1920s, which my family and I live in today. And no, we don’t have sheep – just a crazy labradoodle.
Let’s do this.
- Shaun