Environmental and Green design.

Environmental design is based on the concept of providing the most with the least. The whole aim of environmental design is reducing the consumption of energy and materials and minimizing waste. Environmental design was kick started in the 1920’s by Richard Buckminster fuller. Buckminster fuller also designed the dymaxion car which featured highly innovative features compared to the common car of that time. The car could hold up to 11 passengers, had a highly aerodynamic design, could reach speed of up to 90mile per hour and was also a front wheel drive. These features made the car a huge hit in the 1930’s. By the 80’s the environmentalists warned the people of the effects of industrialism on global warming.



Dymaxion Car.

Green design takes into consideration the products whole life cycle. This means that it looks at the extraction of raw materials, the ecological impact of their processing, the energy that the product consumes in the manufacturing process, the length of the products service life and other factors that are important in the process of producing designs from recycled objects. Recycling objects can reduce waste however it does not necessarily minimize it. Increased product durability on the other hand minimizes waste and energy consumption and doubling the product life can minimize the environmental impact by half.  Tejo Remy designed a chair made out of recycled clothes/ rags which are then held together and kept into place with the use of a rope that goes around the chair.  Some examples of green design include baby clothes, steel water bottles, organic mattresses and pillows, organic bed sheets and bath towels and also journals, notebooks and wooden toys. All the products that are mentioned above are then recycled and re used as another object or product.

Rag Chair.

Planned obsolescence created conflicting views and can arise from change in technology and change in appearance or style. Planned obsolescence is based on the concept of intentionally limiting the life of products so that people and customers and manipulated consuming more and newer products. However on the other hand it keeps workers and designers in employment and helps economic growth.

                 Design for safety and awareness in design kick started in the 60’s with the publication of the book unsafe at any speed. Design for safety brought about the development of products making them safer to use and also the design of safety equipment such as fire extinguishers, seat belts, air bags and smoke alarms.



 

 

 

 

References:

 

 

droog . 2014. Rag chair. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.droog.com/webshop/furniture/rag-chair/. [Accessed 23 December 14].

buckminster fuller institute . 2013. about fuller. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/big-ideas/dymaxion-world/dymaxion-car. [Accessed 24 December 14].

autolife. 1996. From Ralph Nader’s Preface to Unsafe at Any Speed. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Design/Gartman/Books/BK_Unsafe_Any_Speed.htm. [Accessed 24 December 14].



Globalisation.

Nowadays the market is packed and this means that there is need for more innovations and revolutionary concepts.  Some designs are intentionally produced to improve the image of something; other designs are intended to revive old traditions. The modernist ideal of good design returned in the 21^st century. The present design contains a mixture of functional and emotional quality, environmental design and ergonomic design.

                Functional design helps people understand something in an easier way. For example Boris Bally used traffic sign showing the original function of the product. He produced a set of chairs and home furniture which were covered in traffic signs. To produce these chairs Boris Bally recycled traffic signs as his medium and transformed them into bold statement pieces of furniture which are fun to look at and to use.

                                                         Boris Bally’s Traffic sign chairs.

The Company Freitag recycles the Tarpaulins from trucks to produce shoulder bags. Tarpaulin is a very strong and flexible waterproof material and is mainly used as a cover to prevent water getting in. There is a whole process as to how the company Freitag produces these bags. They first get the raw material (Tarp) from a truck that is not in use anymore. After getting the Tarp they cut it and remove any material that is on it. The Tarps are then washed to remove the fumes, acidity, dust and grime that the tarp would accumulate when on the truck. After that the Tarp sheets are taken to the designers to they can produce their one of a kind bags. All bags are different making all the bags unique. After that they are taking to the sewing centre and are then ready to be sold.

Ergonomic design applies findings from the study of anthropometrics to the design of objects. Anthropometrics is the study of human body measurements and properties. This study is needed to help designers and manufacturers produce designs for the best efficiency possible. Emilio Ambasz’ “Vertebra armchair” which was designed in 1974-1976 is the first automatically adjustable chair, which is designed to respond and adapt to the movements of the user. This function makes the chair more comfortable for the user’s body and provides support. The chair is made out of polyurethane and leather and this materials give the chair extra elegance and comfort. Emilio Ambasz designed this chair to make it feel like it is an extension of the human body and the Argentinean designer succeeded in doing that.

Vertebra Armchair.



References:

Tumblr. 2014. Boris Bally. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/search/Boris+Bally. [Accessed 24 December 14].

Freitag. 2014. FROM TRUCK TILL BAG. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.freitag.ch/about/production;jsessionid=0594D3D59D6B3E92E02DB48699EF830D. [Accessed 24 December 14].

Metmuseum. 2000. "Vertebra" armchair. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1989.48. [Accessed 24 December 14].