FIELD NOTEBOOK WEEK 1
The Value of Good Design- MoMA exhibition.
- Briefly describe the type of objects included in the show. What colors do you see? What textures and materials seem common? What is the feeling of the show — the overall design sensibility?
The objects were mostly furniture and daily life objects such as kitchen utensils and a sewing machine. They were mostly in pastel tones and in rustic colors and they were mostly wooden. Seeing this show was so nostalgic since majority of the objects were antique. I felt like I was in my grandma’s apartment:)
2. How would you describe this exhibition to a friend who doesn’t live in New York?
“It was an impressive show if you’re interested in long life design and wanted to observe the factors that make an object good design you should definitely visit it.”
3. Do many of the objects look familiar to you? Do they seem “old” or contemporary?
They look old and antique. They are slightly familiar to me since I already saw similar of them in my Grandparents’ place.
4. Do you agree that most of these objects are “good design”? Why?
Yes, because when I looked at their date of production, many of them were produced in 1940s, that means they’ve lasted long.
5. Which of the objects seem like “bad design”? Why?
The sewing machine because if it stops functioning, it may be hard to fix it since I think we aren’t able to find the pieces that they used at that time.
I6. Do most of the objects in this exhibition seem sustainable, how so?
Most of them were sustainable since they seemed durable and the materials that had used to produce those objects seemed non-toxic and sustainable.
Imagine that you are a buyer for a New York-based Long Life Design store. Chose ONE object included in the exhibition that YOU would keep for the next 50 years. Take a photo of this object (and upload later to your LP).
7. Which object did you chose (object you would keep for the next 50 years):
It was “Royal festival hall chair”
Name of Object: Designer: Royal festival hall chair
Country of design: Britain
Year of first production: 1951
8. What materials are used to create this design?
Rosewood and sycamore-faced plywood, copper- coated steel, latex foam and upholstery.
9. What makes this object a Long Life Design (for you)? Why would you want to keep it?
It can be repaired easily. It looks aesthetically pleasing. It looks like it functions.
11. Do you think the production or materials used in this object might be threatened by climate change/Anthropocene?
Yes for example natural latex is the natural product of certain latex-bearing trees. It starts as a milky substance that flows from holes made in the tree which is the main ingredient of rubber production as well. So human impact on forest biodiversity may result in forest degradation and decrease in latex production.
12. How could you update/alter this design to be more sustainably made (and resilient)? Could other materials could be used?
Maybe I could have used agraloop which is a material that is produced by turning food waste such as banana peels, pineapple leaves and hemp stalks into natural fiber. It can be woven into clothing and I think using agraloop instead of upholstery would have made the product more sustainable.
Read the following article, “Short Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change and write a response describing which question surprised you the most. What other, new information did you learn? Do you feel encouraged by this article? How aware do you think your friends and family are of this information?
The question about beef consumption and the optimistic case surprised me the most. I’ve never thought that reducing meet in my diet could actually help the climate. I’ve heard that vegan diet is an effective way to save the planet Earth, but I’ve shocked when I learned that among the other animal based products, meat production creates somewhat higher emissions and that or switching from beef and pork to chicken in diet could make the case less serious. Moreover, I was impressed to hear that there are still optimistic cases, mentioning about improvements in technology and increase in adaptation was comforting. I’ve been aware of the harmful results of the climate change but learning about the impacts of lowering airplane trips on climate change was interesting. I feel encouraged by the article, it raised my awareness about the topic and actually answered the unanswered questions in my mind.
Explore articles published in the New York Times within the last month in the “Climate and Environment Section”
- What was the most interesting visual that you found (photograph, diagram etc.) and why was it so powerful to you? Include the image and the link in your post.
The most interesting visual was the diagram that shows how much hotter is my hometown than when I was born. It was really impressive, I learned that when I was born, Istanbul could expect about 4 days per year to reach at least 90 degrees. By the end of the century it is shown that there could be 14 of these days very hot days. The scientific facts show that If countries continue emitting at historically high rates, the future could look even hotter.
- Given what you learned in this article, how different do you think the planet be 50 years from now?
The future may be way hotter than today and increase in climate may cause forest degradation. Consequently, droughts may become more intense. Also decrease in oxygen levels may cause increase in epidemic diseases. The Arctic Ocean may become ice free in summer before mid-century.
- In what ways do you think these realities will impact your work and life 50 years from now?
It was going to be hard to produce products such as furnitures. Due to forest degradation, there will be no abandoned trees to produce wood/paper. Species are going to be threatened due to the rise in global carbon emissions.
– How might Long Life Designs address, acknowledge and/or work with such climate related changes over the next 50 years?
Since long life design are designed through obeying the long life design criteria, they will not harm the environment and be affected by the results of Anthropocene.
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