Resource Abundance by Design William McDonough
I found it really interesting that he designed a building like a tree. It made me start to think about how I would design a sustainable building. What aspects would I use? Would I draw inspiration from nature? Ive been thinking a lot about biomimicry recently and could I incorporate that idea into a building?
His ideas about tree roofs and cities growing their own food were interesting because in theory these ideas sound amazing. But how long would it take and how much money would it take and how much convincing would it take to get a city like Washington DC to become a city like that?
From Spider Webs to Elevators
This talk was very intriguing to me because biomimicry is very fascinating to me. Using an elephant as inspiration for a vertical lift system and a spider and its web like an elevator. Nature has so many effective systems that we can draw inspiration from to use in design and in our day to day lives. Biomimicry is something that I want to incorporate into my designs moving forward.
Why Designers Should be in Love with the Process
They redesigned the Puma shoes box to be more like a bag reducing the amount of cardboard significantly. They are trying to cut back on plastic and cardboard. Its easier for the workers that have to carry large amounts of hoes for customers. He points out that they completely redesigned this thing that is no cost to the customer. It comes with the shoes and it is only a cost to the company.
He talked about the suspension of a bridge and relating it to a chair. Can the same idea be used in a chair? They designed a chair that uses less materials which means less cost. This also lowers the carbon foot print.
“Thing that are lighter/sustainable should cost less.”
He stressed the idea of participation. Much like in class participation is a big part of our grade. If more people participate, then you get more out of the conversation and as a result, the project becomes more successful.
