Should creative impulse come before function?

Thanks to Dick Powell for enlightening us to the idea that “the foundations of knowledge and intellect are laid out at college and built through experience” (Letters DW 26 March).

In the light of that show-stopping vision, I trust that few readers respect his criticism of Philip Chung’s brave and discerning assertion that “experience smothers creativity”.

A designer’s experience and knowledge may provide them with “the means to do what they can dream”, but that only goes to show that their dreams cannot go very far – the things that an innocent dreams, on the other hand, are just too profound and amazing to ever happen within the limitations of human experience.

Surely it is obvious that the safety of experience and knowledge suppresses our ability to dream and innovate. We are taught that things should “work”, and get so caught up in these complex constraints that we cannot see the abundance of alternatives that, for instance, a child would.

The ignorant who vote that “experience gives expression to creativity” (yawn) think themselves to be wise, but the real wizards are the ones who see the world through innocent eyes and will happily admit that their ideas are barmy. Remember, we are talking about creativity – practicality comes later.

Lee Sillitoe

Enfield

Middlesex EN2 8QE