Stone Soup

The concept of Stone Soup is based on an old folk tale, and relates closely to the process of design.

The story is simple enough. A small group of soldiers (this point varies widely depending on the telling) are moving toward a town, where they hope to be fed. The townspeople, naturally, hide all of their food, as soldiers are notorious for being extremely hungry. When the soldiers arrive, no one has anything to eat.

Image by Lydia Halverson

However, being rather clever, the soldiers come up with an idea. They proclaim loudly in the hearing of the townsfolk that they will just have to make some "stone soup." They then get a large pot full of water, start it boiling, and put some large stones in the bottom while the townspeople watch, amazed. They taste the soup. Then, the soldiers ask for some salt. One of the villagers obliges; "if only we had some cabbage," and someone offers cabbage. And carrots. And potatoes, and any number of other vegetables. By the time it's all over, there's enough "Stone Soup" for everyone, and the townspeople are amazed that such wonderful soup could be made from stones!

Except, of course, it wasn't made from stones, nor did the soldiers make it themselves. They just cleverly arranged some collaborative design.

Collaborative design is a process where everyone involved brings many different kinds of things to the table - their experiences, expertise, different kinds of materials - and then work together to create something new and unexpected. This may well be the most common form of design. However, design follows a similar formula when pursued alone; the designer fills the soup with his own experiences and the varied expectations of his clients. The result will be different each time; stone soup is never the same twice, and neither are two designs.

Our design class took part in a group activity based on the story of stone soup, and hopefully I will have pictures to add here eventually. It was a fantastic group bonding experiences, and offered some excellent insights into the design process.

Just 997 more to go this year, and I'll have good luck for... wait.

Update: Pictures! There were about nine of us all together, and the results were... colorful.