For this assignment we had to watch 3 talks by designers and reflect on them.
Resource Abundance by Design | William McDonough at World Economic Forum
In the culture that I grew up in did have a similar problem of dealing with the abundance of materials/objects with a cradle-to-grave life. In order to move from cradle-to-grave approach to a cradle-to-cradle approach, it is very important that the organic and technical metabolism shouldn’t intermingle and stay within their own cycles. There are piles of waste rising in landfills every day and it just brings to notice how one should be responsible for their own planet. In order to upcycle and recycle, we can return products to its respective cycle for a renewed circular life.
As designers, we must promote a positive vision of the future, grounded upon the belief that many of the environmental problems we face are, at root, design challenges; William McDonough’s philosophy. One statement I really loved was, ‘A toxin is a material in the wrong place’. In today’s world, throwing out items without considering that each element needs to be checked for safety in order to dump it into the soil has become a big issue. The fact that resources and nutrients are limited make it very difficult for them to sustain if they are simply discarded into landfills or just replaced every now and then. The carpet idea was amazing. Even if they could be detachable where the manufacturer simply snaps the two parts and puts the fresh one with desired color and takes the other parts for further manufacturing makes the cycle so much more effective.
It is not about how ‘less bad’ rather how ‘more good’ we can become. Designs don’t have to be complex to be effective and sustainable. Let’s become compassionate again: How much can we give for all that we get. Let us think, let us rethink and let us do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcO1O99UoUs&t=164s
From spider webs to elevators: leveraging biomimicry | Rene Polin & Daphne Fecheyr
I think this video really connected to me because I love biology and have always wanted to connect it to art in some ways. The transformation from a low-cost vertical movement system to biomimetic low cost vertical movement concept. Some of the main constraints and objectives designers have to take into consideration are:
- Time crunch
- All angle approaches
- Deconstruct problem to find unobvious connections
- Throw out even the crazy ideas
- Remove irrelevant specifics
- Always aim for low tech green solution
A connection I found between this video and the last one was how even with the most technical and business-y manufactured goods, nature can play a vital role. The idea behind a cobweb, a simple part of nature, was the solution to an otherwise complex design. ‘Motion created by wired that retains stored energy and releases only at a desired time’. Traditional design principles and tools need a fresh perspective and biomimicry did provide it, along with making functionality more efficient. It can also be seen the other way as abstract complicated biological language which is connected with everyday objects which creates the bridge for sustainable and better resource management. One simply needs to collaborate and go for it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th97uC6Q-AE
Yves Béhar: Why Designers Should Be In Love With The Process
In this talk he shared some of the principles that are essential to the outcomes and fundamental to design process. I found them similar to most of the aspects the speakers in the above videos focused upon.
- Start with questions and not answer
Ideas can be sustainable and yet practical and fun: encourages a 21st century idea.
- Go out and test it
Lots of sketches, experiments, hand drawings, prototypes, ergonomics and material study.
- Eco dematerialization
Make structures as exposed as you can and with lighter materials. Eco-friendly doesn’t have to be expensive. The lower the carbon footprint, the lower the cost.
- Be there all the way
Be involved in every step, there’s more to learn. From manufacturing to promoting, new ideas can be generated any moment with diverse team and collaboration.
- Become creative with business model and become partners with clients
Companies you work for can broaden your horizons and keep challenging you.
- Participation
It’s all about the creative process. Partnering with a great factory, utilizing current system with new ideas and making design more generous and compassionate.
