Contemporary Expressions: Design Activism, 2000 Onwards

1. Contemporary Expressions: Design Activism, 2000 Onwards Brenna Carpenter

2. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

3. Brief intro/history lesson… • The interest of design activism within the professional design community is booming. • 1999-2008- new organizations were established with an activist agenda focusing on social design, slow design, interdisciplinary design, and architecture. • Utrecht Manifest (2005) • Changing the Change (2008) • Design for the other 90% (2007) • Design approaches are emerging to challenge the sustainability agenda and look beyond eco-efficiency (co-design, social design, slow design, metadesign)

4. Thinking about Design Activism • ‘Socially Active Design’- focus of design is society and its transition and/or transformation to a more sustainable way of living, working, and producing • “Sustainability is a societal journey, brought about by acquiring new awareness and perceptions, by generating new solutions, activating new behavioral patterns, and, hence, cultural change.”- EzioManzini • “Design activism builds on what already exists, on ‘real-life processes from greening neighborhoods to transforming communities through participatory design action.” –Guy Julier • Activism is “taking intentional action to instigate change on behalf of a neglected group.” –Ann Thorpe

5. Target Audiences Contemporary design activism differs when dealing with the two different audiences- • Over-consumers • Under-consumers

6. Differences • Over-consumers • Must adopt eco-efficient and positive behavioral strategies to reduce overall consumption • Must be educated and aware of the impacts that their consumption has directly and indirectly on the natural resources of the Earth.

7. Differences • Under-consumers • Struggle to meet basic physiological requirements for life • Need to be educated on the appropriate levels of consumption that improve their quality of life

8. Raising Awareness, Changing Perceptions, Changing Behavior (over-consumers) “Sustainability is learning about living well but consuming (much) less.” In order to achieve long-term sustainability we must… • Move away from a ‘product-based well-being’ • Focus on our needs • Realize the importance of cyclic consumption rather then linear consumption

9. Strategy: First, directly improve the eco-efficiencies of the product or service throughout its life cycle. Second, deliver eco-efficiencies indirectly by changing behaviors. It is the designer’s job to invoke new ideas about how to live a better life with reduced consumption.

10. Communication by Information • Designers must find ways of engaging people to question their own responsibilities in the way they consume. • Finding new ways to communicate requires imaginative use of design to penetrate beyond the ‘white noise’ of contemporary life • Giraffe Innovation’s Changing Habbitsproject • Worldmapper • TimmKerkeritz’s Virtual Water poster

11. Giraffe Innovation’s Changing Habbits project

12. Worldmapper

15. Communication by Concept, Prototype, or Artefact • Deployed to challenge an existing cannon or imagine future possibilities • Asks the question, “what if?” • MIT Smart Cities project • Fab Tree Hab

16. Communication by Event, Scenario, or Story • Thomas Matthew’s event for Friends of the Earth • International Buy Nothing Day • No Shop

17. Ways of Making and Producing • What trends affect What, Where, and When products are made? • Rising oil costs- affects ‘distributed’ manufacturing • Growth in green, ethical, “organic” consumer markets • Localization • Easily personalized or customizable products • Internet Could be a shift in the balance between what is made by manufacturers, designed by professionals, and what is self made.

18. Half-way Products • Designer/maker/manufacturer only takes the product so far, leaves space for the user to complete the making • Gives the user a much higher level of personalized/emotional gratification • Approach attempts to create added layers of meaning for the user by involving them tangibly in completion of the form giving • An emotional mortar is formed by the user becoming an active participant in the final creation • Natalie Schaap- An Affair with a Chair • Martin Ruiz de Azua- TacheNaturelle • Kesselskramer‘Do Hit’ ‘Do Scratch’

19. “Affair with a Chair” “Do Hit”

20. Modular Evolved Products • The model for mass industrial production generates huge quantities of short-lived stuff. • A study done by Dutch Eternally Yours Foundation revealed that 20 to 90 per cent of discarded domestic electrical products were still working and offered the original functionality • “If functionality had not broken, then the relationship between user and product certainly had.”

21. Ethical Products • Fair trade labels • Labor Behind the Label • The Clean Clothes Campaign • Natalie Chanin’s cottage industry • Design led activism

22. Rise of the Internet • New visions of manufacturing • RapRep (Replicating Rapid Prototyper) • Open to the public • Opens up more opportunities for manufacturing • Ponoko • Flat pack designs • Offers online space for co-creation • Make-on demand

23. Meaningful Production • Connecting Lines (Judith Van den Boom) • Works hand in hand with her employees • To humanize processes and encourage collective intelligence to create a ‘smart factory’ where designers and employees co-create, co-design, and co-make

24. Experiments in Bio- and Techno- cyclicity • Waste= food • Growing furniture • “Plantware” – create living plants that are functional household and office objects • Recycling • Sprout Design • Recycled Sony Playstation cases to create a chair • Herman Miller • Celle chair is 99% recyclable at the end-of-life and includes 33% of its components from recyclate

26. Eco-efficiency Improvements • Eco-efficiency products utilize materials with an inherently lower impact (recycled, biological origin materials) and reduce energy during the manufacturing and/or during the use of the product • Trevor Baylis’s MP3 player • Marti Guixe’sFlamp

27. Activism Targeting the Under-Consumers • Under-consumers are focused on survival, striving to meet basic physical needs • Need to consume MORE • Represent between 1/6th and 1/3rd of the global human population

28. Shelter • Michael Rakowitz • ParaSITE • Uses the waste of heat/cooling from buildings heating/ventilation/air-conditioning systems by attaching inflatable structures that provide temporary accommodation for the homeless

29. Water/Food • Kenya Ceramic Jiko • Portable charcoal stove • Ceramic water filter

30. Raising Awareness by Education • Must have access to resources • Baygen Clockwork Radio • Powered by wind-up generator • One Laptop per Child project • Nicholas Negroponte

31. Health Issues • Life Straw by VestergaardFrandsen • Personal ceramic filters for obtaining clean water • Solar Aid by Godisa Technologies • For those with impared hearing • Solar panel battery charger