ABSTRACT
Over the years, human beings have developed systems, processes and products which have served people in many ways. Their approach to such developments has been based on the design of these products and systems. As a form of human activity, design has evolved in a number of ways from the earliest times until today. In ancient times, design was understood as the aesthetic beauty of a structure. The designer built into the design the functional aspects based on intuition and the understanding of the physical world around him or her rather than any scientific analysis. Creativity played a major role in such designs. Major townships built by ancient civilizations across the globe, large monuments such as the pyramids, palaces, forts and places of worship such as temples, cathedrals and mosques bear testimony to this fact. Engineering inventions such as wheels found their application in artefacts which were designed more for beauty than for technical considerations, e.g. chariots for sports and warfare. Similarly, in the water world, humans could move across rivers and oceans in boats, brave the high seas and explore new shores without the scientific knowledge of the mechanics of floating bodies. Boats were designed primarily for their looks. Even the boats used for battles were designed having sleek and slender bodies with figures of mermaids in front. Thus, design was more of an art than science. Due to the understanding of the physical world (or lack of it!), the artefacts designed and built in ancient times have stood the test of time. We do not know if these were designed to stand for such long periods or were simply over-designed due to the lack of scientific knowledge.
