1) What kind of projects and work do you think might be needed by designers because of the Great Acceleration? What are two ways that the changes resulting from the Great Acceleration are affecting your life?
Designers should create projects and work that could save the environment we destroyed. We only have one Earth, so everything we trashed need to be absorbed by the Earth. Designers need to trace the resource needed in the projects from the very beginning to the very end. Even when the materials are abandoned and become trash, designers have to know how it will be decomposed in the soil. On the other hand, to give the Earth enough time to regulate the materials, it’s better if designer’s projects and work can be used for longer time.
I don’t know how other people in my generation may feel, but I feel like China’s acceleration started right before I was born. There is a shopping street in my city called Nanjing Road. It has been a tourist attraction for a long time, so there is always a huge amount of people. If you don’t pay attention, you will walk into tourists’ photos or enter a tourist group heading toward the wrong direction. However, it wasn’t like this when I was young. I didn’t remember any scene of being squeezed by the crowd, even though I was even smaller in size at that time. And at certain subway stations near tourist attraction, the crowd is like animal migration on Africa Savannah. There are more people in the city than before. Every time I go out, I have to plan ahead to avoid the busiest locations and the busiest hours. Compared with before, I spend more time staying at home during the holidays.
Also, because of the greenhouse effect, global warming makes every summer become longer and longer. I remembered the first summer holiday after I came to US four years ago, I packed some spring clothes in my luggage before I went back to Shanghai. This summer, I didn’t even touch the long sleeves in my luggage during the holiday.
2) What do you think it means to “think and design beyond the present” as a designer? Why might this be important?
As I mentioned in the first question, designers have to design something that could last longer. We should not only think about the effect our design may have for now, but also how the design would be in ten years, even longer. This is important because maybe the life of one design will only last for several years, but the average life of a person is about seventy years. We have to think about the time when we get old. And human beings will continue to live on this planet for many years. Therefore, we have to deal with the trash one design may leave on our planet.
3) Research the word Anthropocene and write a short description that you would share with a close friend (using your own words/language to explain, not an internet definition). What is one example of how the Anthropocene is affecting your home country? Images are encouraged.
Anthropocene is a time period that hasn’t been scientifically proved. It’s a time period (epoch) but in a really big scale used to define the age of earth, like Jurassic. The way people define this is according to geology. The new epoch always starts a new layer of rock. Some scientists think that human’s activities have changed the environment a lot since industrial revolution. From about two hundred years ago, human are the biggest factor that effect the Earth, so it is time for a new epoch. However, there is no obvious evidence on rock layers.
Anthropocene is also affecting China. The subsidence of ground is becoming more and more serious in China. The first time I heard this word was about eleven years about from my elementary school teach. She mentioned how the land of Shanghai sank and told us to take care of our environment. The subsidence in China has a lot of causes. The overexploit of underground water may be one of the biggest causes. The demand of water in Anthropocene motivates people’s greed. If a person slices the city vertically, you may see that the land looks like a funnel. There was huge amount of water underground. When people pump the water out, there is nothing underground. That’s how Yangtze Delta gradually sank.
Land Subsidence
4) Read the following article, “Everything that’s in your iPhone” (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. What surprised you most about this article? What are some of the locations involved in the process of making an iphone (list three)? What are some of the materials (list three)? Describe some the effects (at least 2-3) that these materials have on humans, air and water systems.
The most surprising part is the comparison between the amount of mining and material we need and the actual amount that is needed in one single iPhone. The true cost makes me feel guilty.
A lot of the mining are done in Congo. There are smelters from Philippines and Indonesia. Most of the rare earth metals are from Inner Mongolia.
Aluminum and iron have the biggest weight. And there are some precious metal such as gold.
In Cerro Rico, minors use very primitive tools to mine. The working conditions are incredibly terrible. Children that should be in the classroom are working in the most dangerous parts. It is a cycle. Children don’t get good education, so they grow up continue to be minors. And their children won’t have the chance to get better education. They will never get rid of their destiny. Talking about the precious materials like gold. It need to be separated from the ore by using cyanide, which is toxic. The tiny bit amount of gold used in an iPhone requires 20.5 grams of cyanide.
5) Next week we will tour Parsons’ Healthy Materials Lab Resource Library on campus. Please visit their site (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to learn about their work and watch the Green Science Policy Institute’s video series (7 videos in total, each about 3 minutes long) on the “Six Classes of Chemical Concern.” (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Answer the following questions: Do you use any of these materials commonly in your work or personal life? Will you change your behavior as a result of watching these videos? Why do you think so many chemicals exist in contemporary designs?
I use those materials very often in my daily life when I didn’t even notice the harm to my health, especially the flame retardants. While I was watching the flame retardants, I was sitting in an IKEA sofa. I felt really panic until I saw that IKEA’s logo together with some other companies. I would definitely be more careful when shopping. And I would be extremely curious next time I choose material for my design and be responsible for it. I didn’t notice that so many chemicals exist and are harming our health.
I think scientists were not knowledgeable enough to apply them properly into our life when those chemicals were first found. In other word, they haven’t got a thorough imagination about how the chemicals would affect people’s life. Designers at that time might not think enough about future life. It’s very possible that designers only see one side or some positive characteristics of the chemicals. Later when people started to notice the harm, it was already too late. Those chemicals have already sunk into our daily life
