What's the point of corners?
I'm mid-housework and these things are starting to really get on my nerves... Everything about them is completely pointless and they make all sorts of things that much harder just by their simple existence! Here are highlighted some of the many occasions in which corners can prove frustrating...
1 - Washing Up
The task that led me to the above conclusion takes priority at the top of the list... Why when we have fingers with a minimum thickness of about 10mm do we buy crockery and glassware with corners? The most frustrating item in my kitchen is this stupid glass >
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...yIZmEff5tw&t=1
Why put corners in the bottom of a glass that starts out round anyway? And one that is incredibly narrow and moderately tall! I have pretty small hands for a guy but there's no way I'm getting in there! It's not just this glass either, casserole dishes can often be square or rectangular as can many pots and even bowls.
1a - I was going to end the above with the comment 'corners do not belong in the kitchen' but I've decided it's a valid enough point to deserve it's own paragraph! Why do we put corners on kitchen worktops? Who here has ever wanted to put something on a worktop and been unable to find a space for it due to the lack of a corner? You don't put things right on an edge anyway so who in their right mind puts something right on the corner?! The answer? Noone! So why put a corner there? I know, it's for me to walk into every time I walk past the damn thing!!! By extension, breakfast bars are EEEEE-VIL! Put a round one in there, no problem, you stick a big marble rectangle in the middle of a room at waist height though and you're asking for trouble! That's 4 more corners for me to walk into and they've been placed right in the middle of the ideal pathway from one end of the room to the other!!!
2 - Rooms
Why do rooms need corners? It's not even enough that most rooms have 4 corners nowadays. Right now I'm sitting in one end of what was once 2 rooms since knocked through into one. They left an arch though so they added another 8 corners in here... On top of that there is a fireplace which adds a further 4 corners and a reces in which this computer is located which is another 3 corners (don't ask and yes I am counting innies and outies) The total number of corners in this room, counting the stairs but ignoring doorways to neighbouring rooms, is a staggering 20! 12 of those are innies which makes cleaning a nightmare and the remaining 8 just increase the chances of my stubbing a toe on any given day. I've not even counted the fireplace and hearth which is cunningly disguised to blend in with the surrounding carpet. Yeah, nice... So what's wrong with round rooms? Or at least rendering the corners... Give everything a nice gentle curve and take the nasty angles out of the equation! Job done, problem solved!
3 - Driving
Come on, no driver can possibly disagree with this one. Unless we are on a racetrack then corners are simply not necessary. They act as a way to increase fuel consumption and travel time when a nice straight road from A-B would see you getting places MUCH faster! So what's the deal with all the junctions, corners and crossroads everywhere? Especially in town centres! Why can't all junctions be composed of continually moving sliproads like motorways do? No stopping and waiting, no unnecessary gear-changes and a much faster more pleasant driving experience. Road-rage and traffic will be a thing of the past while the government saves money on obsolete traffic lights and the environment benefits from decreased oil consumption and pollution!
4 - Decorating
This one kind of goes hand in hand with rooms which is primarily a dig at how hard cleaning is made by corners. Decorating can be a host of different things though, from simple painting to more complex renovation and DIY tasks. While I say simple painting of course this isn't true or why post the thread? Painting in corners is fine until you reach a point at which you need to change colours. Masking tape is great but only if it's good masking tape, otherwise you get that little splotchy line underneath it after removal... How mcuh easier would it be if we had no corners to denote where the colour should change? No hassle with masking tape and a free reign on decorating! Moving to DIY we have all sorts of issues, coving and skirting being highest on the list. A moderately difficult task for the standard DIYer how much simpler could 'trimming' your rooms be if there were no corners? Well very much more as it wouldn't need trimming! If you were insistent on breaking up the room then you can now do so without having to cut all those 45o angles for each corner you come to. Just use something nice and flexible for a 10 minute job in even the largest of rooms! Simples... Don't even get me started on corner items... Shelves, baths and showers can all be fitted on straight areas of wall so why go to the extra trouble of fitting them in the corners? I'll tell you why, because corners SUCK! Filling them up with junk like pointlessly small cupboards is currently one of the only ways to get rid of them!
5 - Soldering grrrrr...
This is based on another of today's personal experiences. I'm partway through building a fairly small model from thin sheet metal and the solder is simply refusing to join anything to anything without leaving a mess behind it equal to a V2 rocket... It goes to one side of the join, it goes to the other side of the join, what's wrong with the middle of the poxy thing! Stupid solder has a mind of it's own, it's like taking a dog to the vet of it's own accord. It want's to go everywhere but where you lead it! The problem is highlighted by several absolutely perfect joins which look like they've been done by someone else so I really don't understand what's making the big difference!
Feel free to add to the list, I'm all cornered out for now but there are plenty more! Also do feel free to attempt to argue the side of the corner as it is unable to do so itself, you know I'm right though :p
Re: What's the point of corners?
don't forget that corners and angles are a pathway for the hounds of tindalos to come through.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hounds_of_Tindalos
Re: What's the point of corners?
Simple answer? They're easy and an efficient use of space. Well, as for as architecture and roads go at least. Plus, as far as architecture/rooms/etc go, most of the things that we humans make are rectangular, and rectangles fit nicely in corners.
The roads matter is actually interesting though (I think)..well, as far as highways anyway. Back when they were first building the national highway network in the US, they originally made most of the roads straight from point A to point B. You'll still see a lot of this out in the mid-west. The problem they ran into was that going in a straight line for a long time messed with peoples' heads; made them fall asleep or just not pay attention to the road anymore. That's why you'll see a lot of highways now curve around for no apparent reason; it keeps the drivers alert. As for in-town roads, it's a simple matter of economics. Having onramps and overpasses and whatnot for every intersection would take up massive amounts of space, cost many, many times more, and take much longer and much more resources to build than traditional intersections. Traffic circles are a nice compromise, but they're not really a good fit everywhere. Oh, and I love a twisty little back road. :D They're just so much fun!
Re: What's the point of corners?
It is easier to join two planes (say drywall)together at a corner, than to make it a curve. You also gain more interior sq. feet by having a corner vs. a rounded edge.
For tables, counters, it is easier to make two straight cuts, than to make two straight cuts and then round the corner.
For towns, to make a straight line from A to B for every A and B in the set of locations isn't feasible. You can see an example of this in network topology and it's various layouts.
Now, the cup. I give you that one. It makes no sense, but things like cups are small cheap things people buy. In these cases, people are often driven to the form. Hence the funky shapes, as they are appealing. You simple bought, or were given etc., the wrong cup.
Re: What's the point of corners?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NightrainSrt4
...
Now, the cup. I give you that one. It makes no sense, but things like cups are small cheap things people buy. In these cases, people are often driven to the form. Hence the funky shapes, as they are appealing. You simple bought, or were given etc., the wrong cup.
Plus round bottom glasses don't tend to stay upright....
Re: What's the point of corners?
They make these nice foam drinking glass cleaners that would make that a lot easier. They sell them at Walmart for like $2. They also make things called sponges for like $1 for 10!
I agree with x88x and Nighttrain, without corners the price of your home would be increased by 10-15%. I worked on a foundation where we had to do rounded corners on the front and rear porches and those 4 corners cost about as much as the whole foundation if square would have.
Re: What's the point of corners?
Re: What's the point of corners?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Oneslowz28
They make these nice foam drinking glass cleaners that would make that a lot easier. They sell them at Walmart for like $2. They also make things called sponges for like $1 for 10!
I agree with x88x and Nighttrain, without corners the price of your home would be increased by 10-15%. I worked on a foundation where we had to do rounded corners on the front and rear porches and those 4 corners cost about as much as the whole foundation if square would have.
True.
When I was hanging drywall for a living, I did several custom homes with round rooms (one of them was in Craig Colorado, dr.walrus...). While it was fairly easy, it was extremely time consuming. The mudding was the hardest part. Took many coats to get it smooth and round.
Re: What's the point of corners?
Trying to cut corners in life, I see.
Re: What's the point of corners?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AmEv
Trying to cut corners in life, I see.
Trying to cut corners out of life more precisely lol
I think I need some backup in here, I'm drastically outnumbered. Who'd have thought there would be builders and decorators here :D
Of course I know corners are the easiest option (and apparently much cheaper than I'd realised sometimes) but that's not the point I'm arguing. I just think life would be nicer without corners. To me, the straight lines in an object can be seen to represent friends or lovers if you will. The point at which they connect to each other determines the quality of that relationship. A nasty sharp, sticky-out, pointy corner is a man who beats his wife for smoking while she breastfeeds the baby and then gets drunk with his mistress. A nice gentle soft curve is a couple who have been honeymooning for the last 50 years and don't understand why couples would want 'time apart'.
That's one way to look at it anyway :p
And 88 I agree, twisty turny roads are great fun but you have to know the road, be able to see who's coming etc. to make good use of it. Hence my road comment said corners belong on a racetrack. Somewhere designed specifically for awesome driving. And remember I'm not necessarily having a dig at these fun curvy roads, just nasty left, right, left roads that weave between fields for no reason despite having been placed before the farms... This is probably more of an English thing as there is a very distinct countryside/built-up areas divide. If you see buildings it's a city, if you see fields it's the country, if you don't see anything you've driven off Dartmoor pier again... Hell in the UK even our urban sprawls aren't that sprawling, I think we make more food than people but tragically we only export food and import more people :(
