1) Post your first FBNK entry (scan a photo of your field notebook page and upload this image to your LP)
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2) Post your completed responses to the in-class assignment for The Value of Good Design MoMA exhibition.
1. 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?
What impressed me at first is that most items of this exhibit are familiar to me, most of them don’t have an incredibly amazing and complex visual appearance and that’s interesting because of the way it’s displayed in an exhibit. It’s not common to see simple objects like Tupperware containers displayed in a museum like that. Some have a vintage/retro appearance too, but they’re all timeless objects.
2. How would you describe this exhibition to a friend who doesn’t live in New York?
It’s an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that displays distinct objects and pieces from different parts of the world that are representations of good design.
3. Do many of the objects look familiar to you? Do they seem “old” or contemporary?
A lot of the objects look familiar to me. Some of the objects looked old but in general most of them seem to have a timeless appearance.
4. Do you agree that most of these objects are “good design”? Why?
I do agree, because they attend successfully the basic elements of good design, such as function and appearance.
5. Which of the objects seem like “bad design”? Why?
The Spacelander bicycle (1946) by Benjamin Bowden, even though it’s a beautiful piece, it seems to be heavy and not practical.
6. Do most of the objects in this exhibition seem sustainable, how so?
Yes, I think what makes them sustainable is not necessarily their materials but their timeless aspect, taking in consideration that some of the objects were created more than 70 years ago and still could be used.
7. Which object did you chose (object you would keep for the next 50 years):
Name of Object: Poltrona Bowl Chair
Designer: Lina Bo Bardi
Country of design: Brazil
Year of first production: 1951
8. What materials are used to create this design? Steel and Fabric
9. What makes this object a Long Life Design (for you)? Why would you want to keep it? Mainly it’s timeless appearance.
10. What are 5 systems that support this design’s existence? (think about materials, production
etc. interconnectedness, causality, feedback loops, synthesis, emergence etc.) Product design, Ecologic system involved in the extraction of raw materials, product manufacture, distribution system, use and consumption system.
11. Do you think the production or materials used in this object might be threatened by climate change/Anthropocene?
I don’t think so.
12. How could you update/alter this design to be more sustainably made (and resilient)?
Could other materials could be used?
Maybe if I used a sustainable recycled fabric instead of the velvet-like fabric of the original piece.
YES/NO/NOT SURE
REPAIR: A system and method for repairing goods for continued use must be available.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: I would say YES, because the structure/materials of the chair seem to be simple and easy to be repaired.
COST: The costs must be set at a level that will allow the manufacturer to continue production.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: not sure
SALES: The seller must have strong will to convey its beliefs to consumers.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: YES, it’s a very well known and highly regarded piece of design
MANUFACTURING: The manufacturer must be passionate about the process of “making.”EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: YES, Lina Bo Bardi seemed to be a really passionate designer, I can tell that by the success of her projects, not only as a designer but as an architect.
FUNCTION: The product must be functional and easy to use.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: Yes, the product is functional and easy to use.
SAFETY: The product must be safe to use.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: Yes, the product is safe.
PLANNED PRODUCTION: The product must be produced in planned and foreseeable volumes.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: not sure
USER: The product must lead its users’ attentions to broader issues.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: not sure.
ENVIRONMENT: The product must be made with consideration of the environment in any age.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: not sure, although the designer used to use a lot of up cycling and sustainability is a serious part of her projects.
DESIGN: The product must be beautiful.
EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICE: Yes, the product is visually appealing, and beautiful.
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3) 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?
“How much trouble are we in?” Was the question that most surprised me mainly because of all the risks exposed in the response. I think this is a really good way to expose this type of information, these are frequently asked questions and having short and thorough/objective responses to them makes it easier for people to understand and process those informations and actually do something. I definitely feel encourage and inspired by the article, I liked to know how reducing meat in my diet can be advantageous for the environment.
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4) 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.
I’ve always been interested in glaciers and these “self-made” sculptures that they form, I think it’s beautiful.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/travel/ontario-canada-ice-caves-52-places.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront
- Given what you learned in this article, how different do you think the planet be 50 years from now?
These beautiful glaciers are threatened by climate change, in 50 years from now they might not even exist.
- In what ways do you think these realities will impact your work and life 50 years from now?
I think these realities are gonna make life harder in a sense that the environment is gonna be in risk, and so will we, phenomenons like costal flooding are really scary and are already happening so I believe that nature’s reaction to human activity is only getting stronger.
- How might Long Life Designs address, acknowledge and/or work with such climate related changes over the next 50 years?
The use of Long Life Design helps reducing our carbon footprint, minimizing the effects on the environment, so its impact on climate change is way smaller.
