Week 3/4 Response

Note: messed up number of weeks since there wasn't class week 2, fixing it here.
Design and Sustainability

This week's readings include Speculative prehistory of humanity by Buckminster Fuller, The Sincerest Form of Flattery by David Kupfer, and A Question of Design by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.

Speculative prehistory of humanity
In this article Fuller explains the need for humanity to catch up to its own developing technologies. Many things in life could be made easier by using our newer technologies.  We would use less energy and be more efficient.  Fuller's comments still make a lot of sense and can still be applied to today even though the article was written in 1981.  Though it is hard to change pre-existing structures, for example, I feel it would still be applicable to apply changes to new buildings so that they are more efficient and cost effective. Fuller also comments on the eventuality of using materials directly, like using gold in computers.  This is very much true in today's computers, but I don't think we can ever get rid the money system.  A lot of things today have been so abstracted from its original purpose that many people start to lose sight of what they're actually trying to do.  This again applies to design, particularly to instances in advertising where the ad doesn't even really relate to what it's advertising or selling, but rather focused on getting people to notice them.  Nothing about quality or why the product is good is mentioned, the ad only focuses on the idea of the product.  Fuller also mentions looking to nature for solutions, as nature usually already has the most efficient solution.  In general I like Fuller's ideas, but in order to fully carry out his ideals we would need a reorganization of society.

• Many technologies have been developed so it is more and more efficient
• however the most efficient things are least used and higher up in society
• Need to focus our professions to make efficiency our priorities
• money is not wealth, wealth is our technology that can support and nurture us
• money is only used so it is easier to exchange things
• nature is most economical
• we have to adapt to new technologies or fall behind

The Sincerest Form of Flattery
Kupfer interviews Janine Benyus on the subject of Biomimicry, a way of looking to nature to solve today's problems in various fields, like architecture or engineering or chemistry.  I think the possibilities here are very exciting, as solutions derived from nature are safe and natural and can come from anywhere.  Instead of forcing things, biomimicry is able to use our knowledge of nature and find solutions that already exist.  Benyus is able to list many examples in where our technology has been affect by looking at nature around us, and how much better the new solution was compared to the old solution.  Plywood, for example, used to release formaldehyde because of the glue that was used, but now plywood uses an adhesive that mimics how mussel attach to rocks.  I think another good point that Benyus makes is that we don't need more energy, we just need to know how to use the energy we have more efficiently.  While an in-depth knowledge of biology may be needed to produce such things, I feel that this is very applicable to design as well.  Nature contains a wealth of ideas and possibilities that can be used to create completely new ideas that maybe be used for completely different purposes.

• Benyus grew in suburban New Jersey, and she would always see bits and pieces of wilderness
• Biomimicry addresses of the problems of being able to do things without using heat or explosive forces
• Two species working together evolve faster than one specie evolving by itself
• Various examples of how biomimicry can solve some problems
• solar cell based on photosynthesis and a moth's eye
• cement based on coral reefs
• using material already around us instead of mining
• Keeping up with biological knowledge is a large task but new discoveries are always found that can be possibly applicable

A Question of Design
The authors is this article point out the disastrous consequences of the Industrial Revolution.  Looking back at the movement, the article admits that while people's intentions were good, there were many many unintended consequences that occurred because people did not think the design through.  One example is that detergent is made to wash off day-old grease in a pan, but when dumped in rivers and streams it can damage the slippery scales of a fish or the waxy layers on a plant.  Here the designer has neglected to think about how the products affects in the long term.  Many solutions in the Industrial Revolution focused on brute force, the answer that worked without care or thought about other matters that arose from the problem solved.  The authors also point out it's not enough to notice these consequences, but that it's also important to make changes accordingly.  This article warns the designer about what happens when the solution is not thought through clearly.  In terms of design in general, I feel like we shouldn't just be aware of what we're trying to accomplish, but also what happens when we do accomplish something.  As the author mentions, the designer should try and avoid the cradle-to-grave mentality, the feeling that we must overcompensate and the feeling that nature is the enemy.  It is also important to remember that there are always different paths to the same solution, though some maybe better than others.

• The Industrial Revolution had many negative consequences that still affect the world today
• Raised standard of living but at a price
• Design was too limited: only focused on practical, profitable, efficient and linear
• only economical reasons without looking at other effects
• Nature had to be used, conquered: Nature was viewed as an enemy
• Wasteful use of products: products become waste quickly
• Products designed for general purposes overcompensates and can damage the environment
• We need to adopt a strategy to change our processes and think of a better design

These three articles really point out how important it is to be aware of the natural world around us.  We are part of the earth, and we can use that to our advantage, whether we take and destroy from the earth or observe and learn from the earth.