Midterm Reflection
The most challenging part of the class is to do the assignments because it is a lot of writing. I enjoyed doing all of the “hands-on” things in the class. I enjoyed learning and doing experiments about bacteria dye, also the midterm repairing assignments. I do feel like I am gaining new and useful skills, I enjoyed learning kintsugi too, the lectures are interesting to learn. I am doing my best to work on the assignments. Personally, I wish there will be more “hands-on” things to do in the future, I found them fun and useful.
Video Responses
1) 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?
I definitely agreed with him because mass production and consumption produce a lot of waste and pollutions that humans cannot afford, so, to find a way to be sustainable is key to our future.
2) What was the transformative experience that made Matsuda realize he had a responsibility for what he designed?
He was walking along the river in Kyoto and saw some trash there. He was very annoyed because he thought the beautiful scene was polluted by the trash. However, when he looked more closely, he realized that it was a washing machine that he designed. Then, he came up with the conclusion that creating new products means that the old ones are going to be thrown away. He acknowledged that the responsibility for that linked in his role as an industrial designer.
3) Do you think you would take better care of objects if you had to repair them?
Yes, I think that I would take better care of objects if I had to repair them since I am taking the responsibility of repairing, which would definitely force me to be more cautious when using it.
4) What are examples of other materials that you could design with today, that could later return to the “natural cycle” (such as the bamboo that Masuda mentions)?
Some of the other materials that could use to design and later return to the “natural cycle” are Biomiscanthus, BI-MATTRESSES… etc.
5) 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 should have this as a design goal when they design something in the first place, at the same time, keep this as a responsibility during their design process. Just like what was talked about in the video, to recycle using wastes is another option to start in the first place. Quoting from one of the workers that worked in the factory, “We should be producing less waste than to think about making better recycle machines.” Designers should as well acknowledged the environmental problem and keep that in mind when designing.
6) 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?
“Designers should first, be designing something simple that does not require a lot of resources; the second thing is to use natural materials.” He explained that this is important from the view of Japan: First, Japan is a country that has limited resources, the Japanese acknowledged that their country doesn’t have a lot of resources for them to use; so they always keep that in mind when they are producing. Second, when you only use natural materials in the first place, it helps to reduce the effort that you need to put into recycling or cleaning up pollution and waste. When these reasons are true to the Japanese, they are also true for all humans because we are sharing the world of resources.
7) What are your overall thoughts on this video? Did you enjoy it?
