Walker S. Sustainable by Design: Explorations in Theory and Practice

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

Sustainable by Design

158158

They can be standardized and stabilized in terms of form, colour

and texture. Instead of considering them at the forefront, as a façade

or intermediary between the user and the functional components

where aesthetic acceptability, fashionable style and visual interest are

important, they can be placed in the background and given a subsidiary

and unadorned role as a support for the functional components, see

Figure 13.6. The aim is to bring the dominant components to the fore

by defining the subordinate components as an armature or chassis

that provides a firm base on which to hold and reveal the functioning

parts. Any aesthetic interest will then reside in the functioning parts and

their juxtapositions, rather than in a consciously designed enclosure,

which becomes so quickly outdated. In other words, the subordinate

components must be the polar opposite of that seen in conventional

product design; they must be as subdued and retiring as possible – as

�

��

�

��

Figure 13.5

Product permutations as a

function of design variables

book.indd 158 4/7/06 12:25:50

159

Creating Objects in a Saturated Culture

a necessary but unremarkable underlay. Essentially, this constitutes a

reversal in component hierarchy compared with that evident in most

products; this reversal is really a design device – used here to break

with conventional ways of defining products. A comparison of the

conventional and converse ways of thinking about the subordinate

components is included in Table 13.1.

Even when the subordinate components are framed in this way, they

still have to be defined in terms of materials, form, colour and texture.

o provide a basis for design exploration, we can draw on examples

from other contexts where a conscious intention has been to create

something to be low-key, subordinate and in the background. It is here

that the previous discussion about time and symbolism (Chapter 12)

provides a clue. The symbolically sacred space of the white tablecloth

creates a separate, inviolable area for the functional implements and

the task of eating. Similarly, the white-walled gallery offers a neutral

space for viewing objects of aesthetic interest and value; the absence

of distracting details allows the focus to remain on the exhibited works.

Similarly, the plinth within the gallery is an object used to display other

objects. Again, the focus remains on the exhibited artefact, and we

are so familiar with this way of displaying things that we do not read

the plinth as part of the object of interest. These precedents provide a

basis for considering the design of the subordinate components. The

subordinate components can be standardized and consciously designed

to be featureless, but even so, this does not imply a bland, unchanging

object. Aesthetic interest can be created through the exposure and

arrangement of the functional components themselves. Moreover,

revealing these essential workings allows the user to gain a greater

sense of the product’s utility, not to mention its ingenuity.

Change can still occur over time, but it will be purposeful, based on

technological development. This is often relatively slow compared

to the market

-led style changes prevalent today. Such technological

development usually invokes a change in the form of the functioning

parts, which in turn will affect the appearance of the product. Hence,

aesthetic change becomes rooted in the nature of the object itself,

rather than being a function of fashion or styling. Naturally, this slowing

of change would also affect, and potentially reduce, the desire to

replace the object – because it would no longer be susceptible to the

vagaries of fashion.

book.indd 159 4/7/06 12:25:51

Sustainable by Design

160160

This conceptual approach can contribute to rebalancing the three

priorities of sustainable development – economics, environment and

ethics. It is, however, antithetical to our current business and political

directions and the irrational mantra of continual expansion and growth.

Nevertheless, in a time where continuation of the present model seems

increasingly destructive and pointless, there is an urgent need to

develop different approaches. Business as usual is no longer a

viable option.

Some initial examples based on these ideas are shown in Figures

13.7 – 13.10. These are fully functioning prototypes of electronic

clocks and radios, but they do not conform to the way products are

conventionally designed. In these examples, the functioning components

are brought to the foreground, while those parts needed to hold them

in place are transferred to the background and defined as a plain,

white, rectangle (a white canvas) – an archetypal form based in cultural

convention. Although its specific dimensions and materials may vary,

the basic form can remain virtually the same even though the functional

parts and technologies may change. The form can also remain the

same for objects of differing functions and, depending on the use, it

can be wall-mounted or placed on a tabletop or on the floor

. Hence,

for the subordinate components, form becomes largely independent

of function. The white rectangle simply serves as an armature or

underlay for mounting and arranging the components so they can be

acknowledged and used. The symbolic and the utilitarian, discussed

in the previous chapter, come together – they are both present, but

they are not integrated; the reader will recall that both Eliade and

Malevich suggested that full integration is not possible. Instead, in these

illustrative designs, they exist side-by-side, tenuously attached, mutually

dependent, and yet separate.

This conceptual direction raises a number of issues about design for

sustainability

. It is an attempt to slow the unnecessary inundation of

trivial change, to quieten the busy-ness and provide respite to the

onslaught of visual clutter. It does not prevent change, but attempts

to constrain it to that which is purposeful rather than simply a tool for

stimulating consumerism. The ‘white rectangle’ contributes to product

longevity by establishing an unembellished form that is removed from,

or indifferent to, particular and ever-evolving technologies. In this sense

it is symbolic, a signifier of stability and constancy, which serves as an

book.indd 160 4/7/06 12:25:51

Creating Objects in a Saturated Culture

Figure 13.6

Reversal of convention:

From façade to chassis

Conventional Converse

Form V

ariable Stable

Colour V

ariable Stable

Texture Variable Stable

Details V

ariable Absent

Features Variable Absent

Concept For

efront Background

Intermediary Support

Façade Chassis

Conspicuous Subdued

Obscur

es Reveals

Enticing Plain

Changing Constant

Table 13.1 Conventional and converse understandings

of the subordinate components of a product

Fig. 12.6:

Reversal of Convention – Façade to

��

161

book.indd 161 4/7/06 12:25:51

Sustainable by Design

162

impediment to the progress of relativistic but meaningless variation. It is

the ‘mystic white’ of Malevich, the sacrosanct but featureless ground of

the formal dining table or the gallery wall.

Furthermore, it provides a format for products in which the subordinate

components can be created by mass-manufacturing techniques,

batch production on a regional level or in small numbers in a local

workshop. Hence, it enables product assembly and some component

manufacture to occur across various scales, including the small scale,

thus contributing to localization. This is an important aspect of moving

towards more sustainable approaches, but one that can be adopted

differentially and incrementally

From the user’s point of view, it provides a design approach that

supports product comprehension, maintenance and repair by revealing

the functioning parts and is less susceptible to change. This is intended

to engender a greater sense of calm, to allow one to be ‘at ease’ with

one’s material environment; things are often less intimidating when

they are more fully understood and when one has an opportunity to

intervene or participate.

inally, the approach raises interesting issues about the contribution

of the product designer to the progress of sustainable development.

Consistency in the definition of products and among different types of

products might suggest that the designer has little or no contribution

to make, but this is not the case. Consistency and repetition in the

‘underlay

’ of a product by no means hamper creativity. There are

precedents for this kind of stabilizing approach in other creative fields.

For example, continuities and repetitions characterize the musical works

of the contemporary American composer Philip Glass;

repeated

themes and rhythms provide the foundation of the work, which are then

overlaid with melodies, variations and lyrical pieces. And the Estonian

composer Arvo Pärt has formalized a principle which he has termed

tintinnabuli in which he explores the diversity of musical possibilities

within a single note.

The white canvas designs presented here represent a conscious

attempt to move away from enclosure and façade to explore a different

approach to product design and product aesthetics in order to highlight

other priorities. It is obviously limited in its application, but its primary

purpose is to provide a basis for reflection, for challenging some

questionable aspects of current design practice and for stimulating

162

book.indd 162 4/7/06 12:25:51

163

Creating Objects in a Saturated Culture

Figure 13.7

Three White Canvas Clocks:

Analogue, digital and digital powered

by fruit ‘battery’

Figure 13.8

Three

White Canvas Clocks with

‘batteries’ of lime, tomato and orange

Dimensions of each clock

830mm × 600mm

book.indd 163 4/7/06 12:26:01

Figure 13.9

White Canvas Clock with tomato ‘battery’

book.indd 164 4/7/06 12:26:02

Figure 13.10

AM Radio,

340mm × 1620mm

book.indd 165 4/7/06 12:26:03

Sustainable by Design

166166

further debate. So much contemporary industrial design is aimed at

capturing market share by giving new styles to conventional products.

While this may feed consumerism and can be seen as a valuable

contribution to business, sustainability demands a different emphasis

– and suggests a quite different design contribution. To be meaningful

and thus to be of value, our activities have to respond to the critical

issues of our time. Today we seem to have reached saturation point

in terms of product variations, production and marketing, and the

environmental and social consequences are now only too evident. We

have reached the endgame, and after the endgame we have to

start anew.

book.indd 166 4/7/06 12:26:03

EPHEMERAL

OBJECTS

FOR

SUSTAINABILITY

light touch

It is all too easy to distance ourselves from the effects of our decisions

and our actions when design and manufacturing are carried out within

a globalized system. When head offices are located in North American

or European cities but resources are extracted, processed, formed and

assembled ‘somewhere else’, decision makers inevitably lack a full

appreciation of the consequences of their actions. Within this system,

information becomes filtered down to the essential but abstracted

data of production performance, unit costs and profits. A more holistic

understanding of the meaning of decisions and their impacts is lacking

because there is little direct connection with people and place.

This creates a world of mediated experiences (see Chapter 11) and

produces a system that is increasingly divorced from the realities of

people’s lives and the realities of environmental devastation. It is a

model of business, production and mass consumerism that exploits

both people and nature.

These are the attitudes of convention that,

according to McGrath, have been especially prevalent in western society

since the time of the Enlightenment.

Consequently, even though many

book.indd 167 4/7/06 12:26:03