BIG’s waste to energy plant in copenhagen
Pieced together by Danish Architect and cofounder of the Architecture firm BIG Bjarke Ingels, the term hedonistic sustainability describes his view on future development within architecture. BIG and Bjarke Ingels are amongst other projects famous for their Danish 2010 World Expo pavilion. The pavilion famously contained 1000 bicycles available for getting around the Expo and one of Denmark’s biggest tourist attractions, the little mermaid, resided in the middle of the pavilion.
The Danish Expo 2010 pavilion
Keeping true to his term Bjarke Ingels develops his projects convinced that the sustainable approach will enrich the projects. With his term hedonistic sustainability Bjarke Ingles aims to change the common perception that sustainable architecture and solutions will decrease the experienced quality for the users. A perception which famously brought the COP15 conference to its knees, as the politicians wrongly thought that meeting the environmental requirements where bound to decrease the current quality of life and progress of development. On the contrary he sets out to prove this far from the case and rather than being an extra cost sustainable architecture helps making the projects both richer in quality and more economically viable. As seen in his architecture projects, sustainable solutions are integrated in the projects enriching the user’s experience of his buildings.
Could hedonistic sustainability be implemented in the future of product design?
Still image from story of stuff by Annie Leonard
With the increasing world population it is a well known fact that we must become better at utilizing the limited resources we have. Annie Leonard addresses this fact in her “Story of stuff”. We cannot have a linear production system on a circular planet - she says in the movie.
This is definitely the biggest challenge for the designers of 21st century products. This hedonistic view on sustainability must find its way in to the procedure of how we design and manufacture the products of the future, whether it be at a factory or in the comfort of our own homes using 3d printers. Thoughtfully designed products with focus on the entire product life cycle rather than just aesthetics and cheap production will be the way to go for the designers of the future in order to make this much needed change in the way we design, produce, use and recycle the resources of our planet. Time has come to rid ourselves with the perception that designing a sustainable future courses a decrease in the quality of products.
Could there be a more positive goal to strive for than the one of designing products which have less impact on the environment while performing better for both user and manufacturer, it seems like a win-win situation which must be grabbed.
How do we as product designers meet this challenge?
Naturally a vast number of product designers have already begun designing their products to meet the challenge of a more sustainable future however there is still a long way to go before sustainability is fully integrated in the way we design and manufacture. By the use of modern technology and materials we can go a long way for instance using biopolymers where applicable would make a big difference. Following is a short description of; 3d printing and how it could affect our daily life in a not too distant future, a short introduction to Ross Lovegrove and his supernatural designs and finally the cradle to cradle philosophy created by Braungart & Mcdonough. These three elements contain some of the leading directions within the field of product design and development these years.
3d printing - from DIY to PIY
A 3d printer and a playable flute printed by MIT Media Lab Researcher Amit Zaron
As 3d printing develops to produce more and more complex products it will become a big player in the way we manufacture products in the near future and has already started finding its way from printing spare parts for the U.S. Army and into private households, for production of consumer products.
Imagine having a 25 kilo bag of material powder delivered to your door and, printing your own desired products from it and recycling them when you need to use the material for other products or when you simply want to change the design style of your things.
One could imagine printing a product when the need for it appears and then recycling the material of the product to print new products with after use, thus creating a circular production system allowing the customer to print the products needed. Having the 3d printer powered by sustainable energy this could be a sustainable way to manufacture everyday necessities, without generating waste. This would of course alter the role of the designer as they would be designing for home manufacturing and not for mass production in factories.
Supernatural design
Captain Organic aka Ross Lovegrove advocates that we should design intelligent forms. With his inspiration from the way nature designs things such as whale skeletons, planktons, water flows, water bubbles, etcetera Ross Lovegrove gives form to what he describes as lean fat-free designs. Designs stripped of any unnecessary material, just like nature would do it. He sets out to investigate and understand the way nature builds and from his findings he derives his designs.
Ross Lovegroves waterbottle and go chair.
An example of this is his waterbottle, designed from his impressionistic CAD drawing of flowing water. As Ross Lovegrove says it himself he has put a skin on water - and it looks absolutely stunning. On top of this the design of the bottle with its waterflow shape ensures structural strength, good grip for both children and people suffering from arthritis.
Biopolymers are the future Ross Lovegrove argues. In fact this was Ross Lovegrove’s answer when Sony brought him to Tokyo and asked him how they could beat Apple, sadly they ignored him. Whether Sony would be able to beat Apple by the use biopolymers is uncertain, however biopolymers certainly holds a key for designing sustainable products in the future. Many biopolymer products are already in retail and many more will come.
Biopolymers were inspired by the growth of oyster shells.
Ross Lovegrove’s designs are created form a deep understanding for the way nature itself designs. He aims to elevate peoples respect for products and the materials which have gone in to producing them. Many of his visions and designs show that hedonistic sustainability is also being practiced within the realm of product design. With his way of designing and his visions for future products Ross Lovegrove is definitely one of the designers leading the way towards a more sustainable future.
Cradle2cradle
The cradle-to-cradle book by Braungart & Mcdonough
The overshadowing argument for manufactures to become more sustainable is naturally the business point of view. Cradle-to-cradle, a practiced philosophy created by Braungart & Mcdonough shows a way to view the production, use and reproduction of materials as a circular system, where nothing is considered to become waste but instead becomes raw material for new products. This philosophy derives from the way nature works, where nothing by nature is waste but the material for new growth.
The cradle-to-cradle philosophy created by Braungart & Mcdonough and the projects they have made show that there is an enormous potential for generating a better business when taking sustainability seriously and making changes in the manufacturing process and the entire process around the manufactured products. The designers must give the manufactures the incentive to improve their products to be sustainable through improvement of business. In doing so sustainable designs will be the only reasonable way to go for manufactures and designers now and in the future.
As designers and manufactures of products in our modern world we have the opportunity to change the linear system of today in to a circular system which strives not to produce waste. Hence we carry a responsibility that our grandchildren will also have a planet rich with life to enjoy.
If you feel inspired and would like more information on these topics, check these websites:
http://lasustainabilityforum.blogspot.com/2011/02/hedonistic-sustainability.html
http://www.ted.com/speakers/ross_lovegrove.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing
Post new comment