1) What do you think of the ten Long Life design criteria
overall? Which criteria, in particular, might assist in meeting the challenges created by climate change and how? What criteria would you add or how would you update the current list to account for specific design challenges presented by the Anthropocene?
I think the criteria that Long Life Design follows covers all the important aspects that a design should have and follow. For example, is easy to repair, easy functioning, safe to use, among others. However, I think it also includes important criteria that relate to the environment, because the choice of materials is an essential, and yet basic part of the design that impacts the environment in a positive or negative way depending on our decision. For this reason, I believe the criteria that counteract or target directly to the challenges created by climate change are the environment, safety, and repair. First, environment because as the name of the criteria says, the product must be made considering the environment at any point, for example, using materials that don’t pollute the environment or using materials that are from renewable resources. Second, the criteria of safety mean it has to be safe to use, not only to the user but also that the use of the product doesn’t pollute like for example cars and trucks do by releasing carbon monoxide and it accelerated the greenhouse effect. And last, the repair criteria, because if a product has a repair system, it won’t be a lost design but it can be repaired over the years. Considering the Anthropocene, I will add some important details to the criteria of manufacturing and safety. First, the aspect of manufacturing I would add that the product has been to manufactured at least 60% nationally, in this way, the transportation system of that particular product will be less and therefore, it will pollute less to the environment. Also, The criteria of safety, I will add that it has to be safe to use to the environment also, as it is not totally clear when it states “the product must be safe to use”.
2) Analyze the design from your home country (in production for longer than 50 years) that you shared in class this week according to the 10 Long Life Design criteria. In what ways does this object/product meet the criteria and in what ways does it not meet them? Address all ten criteria.
The hammocks have been produced in Ecuador and other countries of latin america for over thousands of years. And to determine if it is a long life design is important to analyze the product according to the criteria.
1. Repair: is easy to repair as it is made with fabric that can be easily repairing by sewing on the damage or adding patches depending on what is the damage.
2. Cost: generally, hammocks are really affordable, letting the manufacturer to produce large amount of products.
3. Sales: indigenous manufacturers in Ecuador believe their handwork is worth it and has an additional quality than machine made hammocks.
4. Manufacturing: The economy of Otavalo, a town in the Andean Highlands of Ecuador, depend on the sells of handmade fabrics and hammocks, for this reason, the majority of indigenous people in Otavalo dedicate their life on making this product.
5. Function The use of hammocks is easy to use and it has a function in people’s life: is a type of chair.
6. Safety: it is safe to use to the user and also to the environment as it is made out of cotton, handmade by using a domestic threading rack.
7. Planned Production because the price is affordable and people buy it, it is made in a large amount of production.
8. User: hammocks are generally used outside of the houses, so sitting outside the house towards the environement, gives us a time to connect with our surroundings.
9. Environment: it is made with renewable resources that doesnt pollute the environment and neither the process.
10. Design It is a unique and yet beautiful design that represents the culture of Ecuador by making native designs on the fabric.
3) Next week we will visit Tea Drunk NYC, a Chinese tea shop founded by Shunan Teng. Please visit her store website (Links to an external site.)and learn about her work and pop-up shop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Links to an external site.) How does this business seem related to Long Life Design? Despite being a new business, which of the Long Life Design criteria do you think it might be able to fulfill over the next 50 years, and why? What are two questions you have for the owner, Shunan Teng, related to long-life design and sustainability?
I think the business relates to long life design as it has taken the traditional method and the traditional basis of making authentic tea. The process of going to specific Mountains renowned for growing authentic tea leaves and working alongside with farmers that have dedicated their life to tea making makes the Tea Drunk’s staff get involved in the traditional Chinese culture of making tea by handpicked and handcrafted. Moreover, even it is purely traditional tea made with traditional methods, the meaning behind making the tea from mountains that were hailed by emperor and artists, and the meaning of the name of the brand gives another approach and yet a very modern and artistic one. Drunk, instead of meaning a negative word, in Chinese culture it means a true passion. In other words, tea passion. Moreover, it has taken tea to represent the traditional Chinese culture into a modern world surrounded by machine-made products, to express the love for nature and its natural flavors such as tea. For this reason, I believe Tea Drunk will be able to fulfill most of the criteria of long life design but especially manufacturing, as they have taken traditional farmers to handpick and handcraft the tea with their staff, and also safety and environment as it is produced based on traditional methods respecting tea mountains instead of growing tea plants in another area that will later alter the native plant species of that area by introducing a new one. What I would like to know from the owner is that how do they manage the cost to allow production, because the whole process of making the tea from going to China until handcrafted the tea is expensive. Also, I will like to know how do they determine the sustainable growth of tea plants in order to not alter the environment and not endanger that specific species.
* please note we will walk to Tea Drunk, located at 123 West 7th street, about 1 mile away from Parsons. Please prepare for walking and the day’s weather.
4) Please watch the following design talks video on Regeneration Design and answer the following seven questions on your LP.
– At the start of the program Industrial Designer, Fumikazu Masuda says, “we cannot continue like this, there is no future in mass production and consumption.” Do you agree?
Yes, I agree with that statement because mass production and consumption mean living without caring what it took to make that product and the consequence of having the lifestyle of mass consumption in this epoch. Therefore, we cannot continue not caring for what will happen and only acting to make money and see profits, but designing, creating and innovating with things that can transcend and have a positive impact on the world, and that for me is having a profit.
– What was the transformative experience that made Matsuda realize he had a responsibility for what he designed?
The event in his life that changed his mind and his idea about designing was when he saw the washing machine he designed thrown to the garbage. He realizes that the design he was following was the one that encourages throwing away things and constantly creating new and cooler products. For this reason, he changed his approach towards design and started teaching to his students to design according to “regeneration”.
– Do you think you would take better care of objects if you had to repair them?
Yes, I think that the reason why sometimes we don’t care about every single product we have in the same way is that we know we have a new one on the store and we can throw away the one that is damage. However, if we have to repair our own objects, we would change the way we use and treat each one of them in order to avoid having to get them fixed as there is no other option for that product. I believe that antiques and vintage products are treated with more care and value as they are one of a kind or they gather a history that we hold by having them.
– What are examples of materials that you could design with today, that could later return to the “natural cycle” (such as the bamboo that Masuda mentions)?
walls and floors made out of cork, pots made out of the orange skin, fake flowers leaves made out from the orange skin, pots made out of coconut skin, among others.
– Masuda says, “nobody wants to leave the next generation with nothing but trash.” Do you think designers should consider the ability for their designs to be repaired, as part of their initial design process? What else might help create less waste?
Yes, I think that designers have the responsibility of the impact of their products and the future of them. I think the responsibility of designers doesn’t end when someone buys a product but of how the product impacts the lifestyle of the consumer and what it encourages the consumer to do. Therefore, part of being a designer is to think not only how it can be sold, but how it can be kept and create something meaningful that can become part of someone lifestyle, and be repair easily in order to not be thrown away or replaced.
– What are the two things that Masuda says designers should be mindful of when designing (see timecode 20:00)? Why does he say this is important? Do you agree?
First, designers must create something simple without the need of using many resources, therefore, saving resources. The simpler it is, the easiest to be manufactured, and repaired. And the second thing is the focus on natural materials. Instead of making things out of the product that must be recycled, the use of natural materials allows the product to decompose when it is not needed anymore. It is important because if we consider this 2 aspects, instead of using materials that cannot be decomposed and doesnt have a natural cycle, we end up using resources without thinking on their sustainability and therefore, we will end up with nothing to use. I do agree with this because besides it has a logic, it is a practical and very basic way to think about the materials we use when designing. If we change the way we design and whit what we design, we are changing the amount of waste we create when designing something. The fewer resources, the more you save, the easier it is to repair. The more natural resources, the less waste you create.
– What are your overall thoughts on this video? Did you enjoy it?
I think this is a great video that shows and states important aspects that every designer should consider in the process of creating. First, thinking about the future of their designs and their impact on the consumer. Secondly, thinking about the materials that will be used and how much waste is going to be made if it’s made with a particular material. Also, what interested me the most, is to see and learn how many initiatives and projects are now in order to promote sustainable designing. I liked the idea that Tetsutaro Tanaka, a fashion designer, had about using old flags to create fashion items incorporating the history and event that happened in Ishinomaki city. Also, the idea of the architecture of using electric cables to design a restaurant and use them on walls and floors. That, for me, designing beyond the moment but designing for the future.
