How do you as a designer want to skillfully and creatively meet the realities of the Anthropocene? (What kind of projects and actions do you think might be needed)?
As a designer, it is our job to think critically and to place ourselves into the next generation’s position. As skillful producers, we should come up with recyclable designs that are going to be created with biodegradable and decomposable materials. Even utilizing products that are already used by others or reproducing unused equipments are an option.
What is a beautiful object/design that you admire from your home country that has been in production for longer than fifty years? what you think makes it so resilient?
In Turkey, we give so much importance to kilim which is a flat, hand-woven rug traditionally made by women. Kilim have been produced since ancient times and the motifs that are used in Turkish kilims symbolizes our beliefs and traditions. Kilims have been produced by using vegetable dyes whose recipes were kept as family secrets in past. Those dyes are exclusive to the regions which make kilims unique and authentic. Besides kilims are made of agricultural based products such as cotton. Using sustainable raw materials makes those designs long-lasting and durable so that they could be used as floor-coverings.
Read the following article on kintsugi. Lacquer, the base of kintsugi, has been used for repair for nearly 1000 years in Japan. Are there similar practices of repair in your home country? What kinds of design and cultural values do you think enables a process of repair such as kintsugi to be practiced and refined over hundreds of years?
“Wabi-sabi” as it called as the beauty of imperfection means that the actual beauty comes from being incomplete and impermanent since nothing/ nobody is perfect nature wise. Kintsugi enables to sustain the cultural heritage of the object by repairing process. Using lacquer as a reparation technique makes the object durable and emphasizes the significance of holding things together. The way lacquer mixed with powdered gold (an expensive material) also conveys a message that beauty doesn’t have to come from a complete shape, sometimes flaws put more content to an object and make it more valuable.
In turkey, different rug pieces especially the abandoned and the imperfect ones are stitched together and as a result, handmade patchwork rugs are come out as a one-of-a-kind piece of art.
Read through the kombucha leather protocol carefully. What questions do you have? Then, start growing this natural material. Answer on your LP. How does it feel to try and grow your own material from tea and sugar? What do you think will be the biggest challenges for this project?
Chemistry enabled me to take a look at life through an entirely different point of view. I couldn’t have imagined growing a material from tea and sugar before. I’ve been drinking kombucha for so long but I haven’t imagined myself creating leather/fabric out of kombucha .The process is really impressive.I think the biggest challenge that I’ll face throughout this process is going to be storing the mixture. I have some concerns about it.
LONG LIFE DESIGN VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K88pGtW6oio
How would you describe Nagaoka’s “non-designing” design practices?
What Nagaoka basically supporting is reproducing new products from already designed products, sort of reconsideration of current designed products. He takes reconsideration of stuffs as a method of ensuring sustainability.
How do your opinions of “good” design compare with Nagaoka’s? Would you define good design differently, how so?
For me, I think a good design is not just something that looks good visually, it also should reflects the designer personal experiences, background and point of view. A good design should be unique and authentique that represents an essence of the designer’s identity. Comparing with Nagaoka’s, I think in terms of authenticity limiting design by using already-used materials destroys the originality of the designer.
Nagaoka says that we have entered a new era where people want to buy things that mean something to them, that truly matters, and that we have entered a new era. Do you feel these ideas are specific to Japan or are applicable to other countries too? What evidence do you have of your opinion (what makes you say yes or no)?
Yes.People have begun to be attracted by customized items. They want their products to be special to them. Besides people in nowadays are in search of antique objects, they pay million dollars in at auction just because to own the objects historical heritage.
What kind of design do you think appeals to young people today?
Apparently Instagram worthy designs.
Near the end of the program, the host of the program says the future of design could be, “people who make things with care and people who use them with care” and that this could be a new form of prosperity. Do you agree? Why?
I agree because if products are made with care, people feel the care and want to but them and eventually they will use them with extra care. It is like a chain.
What do you think of the student projects shown at the end of the program?
They start to produce long lasting designsy using sustainable materials.
Do you consider yourself a long-life designer? Would you like to become one?
Right now, I don’t consider myself as a long-life designer, I’m still at the learning process but I really want to became one.
How might the concept of Long Life design be useful to designers working within the constraints of the Anthropocene?
In the age where the human impacts on the environment at a serious scale has begun to shape the Earth’s geology and ecosystem, making Long Life design such as saving materials by reconsidering materials that are already used can be really beneficial for the future generation
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