Allan Chochinov gives us exactly 1000 words on Sustainability in Design. Here are 105 of them:
Hippocratic Before Socratic "First do no harm" is a good starting point for everyone, but it's an especially good starting point for designers. For a group of people who pride themselves on "problem solving" and improving people's lives, we sure have done our fair share of the converse. We have to remember that industrial design equals mass production, and that every move, every decision, every curve we specify is multiplied—sometimes by the thousands and often by the millions. And that every one of those everys has a price. We think that we're in the artifact business, but we're not; we're in the consequence business.
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Mr. Allan Chochinov
Thanks a lot for this article. Wonderful thinking.
i was empowered about this article by Mr. Ashish Deshpande of Elephant Design, Pune (State: Maharashtra, Country: India). He is a good friend of me.
Once again thanks,
Sincerely i remain,
This is Phadke S. N. on 19th Feb 2010 at 1839 Hrs. as per IST. Camp: Chennai State: Tamil Nadu Country: India
This is a dreadful example of how manufacturers mass produce shoddy goods simply as a means to an end with no consideration of the environment or consumers needs.
I am a design student, and have a brief to make my own design manifesto. This is a great example and reiterates many of the ideas I have heard in recent weeks, but without all of the diatribe that goes in between. Thank you very much for such an informative and inspiring manifesto, I hereby swear that I will think before I design.
'Environment' is now a bona-fide political issue here. Believe it or not, it is the first time since the 1970s that this is the case! A general election is due here within the year and environment is at the top of the political agenda.
To coin Malcolm Gladwell, I truly believe that we are now at a tipping point in the area of 'sustainable consumption'. Sure, this is a phrase currently being co-opted by a range of interests; business, media and government alike but I for one really believe this is the future for design. Design of garments, building, transport and so on.
I don't think you are being overly critical about 'consumption' per se. Perhaps just a little too pessimistic. The coming years will tell but there seems to be (in at least the UK, urbanised China and Australia where I have direct experience) a growing will by consumers to be slightly more discerning about the products (especially food) that they buy and people seem to be willing to pay more for foor grown ethically, organically (or at least by FairTrade means). This is very significant.
I should state my bias here. I am a chartered landscape architect and environmental designer and I am involved in a small design-based business in the food sector developing sustainable packaging. I am passionate about DfM (Design for Manufacture) and I regard this as being possibly the number one priority and driver for all aspects of the design professions. (Personally I don't see our salvation coming from biodegradable or compostible products or objects but this is another topic...). Craddle to Craddle design, recycling and DfM is, in my opinion, the way forward. There is a massive consumer will out there. What we need are many, many more cool, functional and inexpensive recyclable products...and a fair dose of education in order to catalyse that will into action ans sustainable consumption.
I commend you on a thoughtful and thought-proviking Manifesto. If there were more people out there beating the drum of sustainability we would have a better hope of making the small but important fundamental changes to design culture and in turn massive changes in consumer culture. From across the pond I say...'keep beating that drum'.
Regards,
Rob www.greengrocer.uk.com
in all seriousness, this, to me, is part of an industry wide call to deepen our profession. we DO care, and we CAN answer very difficult questions - but only if we start to realize that our process and outcomes are not JUST marketable and 'cool'. coolness is not an end. its great to see the ramifications (in this manifesto) regarding a notion brought up at Design 2.0: Design needs to GROW UP. I'm glad it bugged you, too. now lets make some BETTER stuff.
thanks, Allan.
I do not condone apocalyptic talk, but it becomes harder to neglect the fact that something profound is happening beneath our very noses. Even then, despite our uneasy acknowledgment of this phenomenon, we get too easily swept up in our culture of consumerism and our ambitions for material success. We are taught to want, to crave, to buy…only to lose our interest when the next big thing comes along. Let me be completely naieve in my philosophy and ask then how is true happiness actually derived?
My moral dilemma comes in this form: I aspire to enter advertising, a world very much entwined with design. Advertising – the platform that fuels the fire of consumerism. How can I condone this ambition when I also recognize the cons of that field? There was a time I wanted to go into diplomacy as a means to influence and change events, but the bureaucracy and corruption was too much for my ideal heart. As I’m about to enter the cutthroat advertising industry, however, the irony hits me hard. I had recently discovered designing and the passion it inspires within me, hence the switch in focus. Nonetheless, I frequently struggle with the idea that I’m not doing anything meaningful or useful in the greater scheme of things.
And so, Allan, I say thank you for setting light on the truth that design can indeed be significant and a means to encourage sustainability.
I don’t want to give up. I just need to find the right channel through which I can enact change. I heed your challenge to prevent design from being redundant.
Thanks again,
S
It kind of reminds me of the old college spirit cheer:
"I say Karl, you say Marx!"
"Karl!"
________ (your turn)
-- lates
-- jrawk
Insightful, honest, and right...
I want to see more action, less words about intent...
The design industry slavishly serves to generate business growth and perpetuates the thoughtless and disconnected consumer attitude.
Pushing back on clients to make small changes to their established processes needs to be more of a daliy occurance. Sustainable design can be delightful and economically.
Thanks for speaking out. I'll try and do my bit.
-C
After 12 years of sitting around disgruntled, I've just resolved to get back into design with a focus on environmental responsibility. I'm keeping a print of this at the FRONT of my workbook for a reminder. Malcolm Wells would be proud.
This article has really propelled me into thinking of the why behind my involvement in design in the first place, and the answer I get so far is to express solutions that can help people live fuller lives. I realize that while design can be a priceless tool to achieve this, it has, for the bigger part, fallen prey to 'the latest fad' and the ever-accelerating (and shrinking) span of life a manufactured object has over the real purpose of the discipline. We have all centered ourselves on the magnificence of what we can create without looking at the impact this perceived greatness has caused to our Planet- and our psyche. This is why I have to disagree with what Ben Arent wrote below (and no hard feelings whatsoever, Ben). Maybe we DO need to walk a bit further than from the front door to the garage, enjoy the silence of a breezy evening, and prepare our own meals from time to time, so as not to rely on so much unnecessary junk that we have created. It may sound scary, but it could actually bring us a step closer to being in tune with what surrounds us. As Stiven writes below, people in Cuba, an 'underdeveloped' country according to OUR point of view, are happy as can be without many material possessions. They are still able to feel fulfilled in life with no material excess.
This is not to say, however, that all our creations are not necessary nor beneficial, but I think we have let the ball too loose, and the snowball is rolling so fast that it's melting itself, quite literally. We must confront and continue to communicate the awareness of the consequences of the work that earns our beans (and polyamid beanbags) so that our creations actually do good rather than long-term harm.
I have been out of Pratt for five years now and am not familiar with the current curriculum, but is there a way to instill this awareness into the students at present? I never had a class that actually showed me that a majority of my products would end up constituting a great morass in the landfill, but it is of great concern to me now. We have to befriend renewable materials and technologies, and just as importantly, evaluate WHAT it is that we are designing, and what it aims to fulfill.
I also want to thank you for your use of 'big' words, as they happen to communicate precisely what you want to say. My native language is Spanish, and I had a lot of fun looking up a few that I didn't get, which I understand now, thanks to you.
Keep up the awareness!
Couldn't have said it better..except perhaps with the use of words that have more common understanding for the vast majority less literate than you are..Come to think of it..that would also meet the screw don't glue
Manifesto commandment rather nicely since designers who cannot communicate to the masses..are not likely to change much of anything.
Michael..SpaceProjekt
Just one example is Cuba, a place where consumerism of any kind practically does not exist but yet they are one of the healthiest nations in the world both physically and mentally. I traveled there for a few weeks last year and was amazed at how few materialistic possessions they have and yet how happy they are as people.
I believe that as designers we must take on the responsibility of redefining the meaning of good design. You are right, its about context and appropriateness and balance of all the meaningful variables. This is much harder to achieve than just beautiful form and function but paradoxically not often identified as good design.
The folks at www.worldchanging.com have put together a great book documenting some of the worlds best sustainable and practical solutions. To me, there are much better examples of good design in that book than in any other traditional artsy fartsy design publication.
We humans invented trash with our crude industrial systems and still today we are the smartest creatures on earth but also the dumbest as we stumble to realize the side effects of our shallow addiction to our superficially manufactured need for "crap".
These ideas are not new; Papanek and Fuller figured this stuff out 30 years ago�
For more please checkout my manifesto and blog at www.sustainableday.com
I do feel though that you may be a little harsh on defining consumerism. indeed even 'no-impact man' is in a fine situation now, but humans shouldn't live like this even as in an environmental agreement's against 'products'. Take many 3rd world country's for example, where without (all of our created crap) people have to walk 4 miles a day, go to bed when the sun goes down, cook every day.
We should take a Cradle to Cradle approach, and create abundance. We need more products, more culture, more artifacts. Our life will become richer.
We need to change the idea of possession, and create many more products as services. A great example is washing machine, in C2C, they create a machine you hire that is designed for your specific water. But in Thackara's book, he explores the idea of a 'machine' that cleans cloths just by placing them on it. This sort of product is a long way off.
I don't believe its not possible to move forward without what may seem like a couple of steeps back. (what would of happened if the British industrial Revolution never happened??)
Yesterday I kicked off a "Sustainable Design Club" at Cardinal Health. I didn't learn this stuff in school, nor have I ever been asked to be Green. As such, I'm eager to learn more and dialog with other Industrial Designers about this important topic. Your manifesto is a valuable addition to the discourse.
Isn't that an anthropocentric argument?