- Resource Abundance by Design | William McDonough at World Economic Forum
September 12, 2014: Resource Abundance by Design presented by William McDonough at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China.
(21:44 mi)
Looking at the subject from a point of view of a mathematician, William McDonough spoke about the balance of nature and the need for materials to correspond with their environment in order for sustainability to take place. He explains the concept of “technical nutrition” which can be actually be beneficial to our natural resources instead of abusing them. He urges us to reinvent existing materials and stay away form the process of mining and extraction. The latter is causing problems for the environment and will only harm us as well as the future generations. McDonough also discusses the idea of cradle to cradle and has developed concepts that view buildings in terms of trees and cities to be self sufficient for their their food demand. Personally I can’t wait to say the world transform in such a way.
- From spider webs to elevators: leveraging biomimicry | Rene Polin & Daphne Fecheyr | TEDxCLE
(16:47 min)
Much to my surprise, this talk proved that different fields can intergrate to come up with new systems. Rene Polin discusses his conveyor belt system that was made successful with the help of Daphne Fecheyr. Biomimicry helped them to develop a design that was energy saving and extremely efficient. Together they reimagined the system and developed the final design that is not only innovative but sustainable too.
- Yves Béhar : Why Designers Should Be In Love With The Process
(27:50 min)
In a matter of almost 30 minutes Yves Behar articulately goes over the efficient use of materials by using the minimum amount required. He believes in organised design which includes having knowledge of the elements in the object as well as rigorous prototyping. The Puma shoe box is an example of dematerialisation as it uses 65% less amount of materials than what is usually used. The speaker concludes by discussing local participation with suppliers and manufacturers and the need to mess around and play with all impossible possibilities in order to create something groundbreaking.
