Extant Design: Designing Things As They Are
Author(s)
S. Walker
Abstract
A brief overview of two quite different but interrelated ways of addressing
sustainability in relation to product design, namely \“incremental improvement
through design” and \“more fundamental considerations of sustainability and
product design” is followed by a design exploration that focuses on the second,
while also incorporating aspects of the first. The basis of the exploration is
described, and supplemented with tangible examples that illustrate the ideas. The
focus of the discussion and the design work is on the still-useful objects that are
so readily discarded and replaced because they are no longer regarded as useful,
or for aesthetic reasons, or because minor technical advancements render these
older objects less desirable. The three design explorations included here attempt
to offer ways of re-valuing older products, thereby increasing their useful life
and, in the process, making some contribution to mitigating the need for and
effects of replacement products.
Keywords: sustainability, product design, material culture, novelty,
consumerism, moderation.
1 Introduction
A contemporary challenge for design is to re-imagine and re-interpret some of
our most fundamental notions of material culture. This is important for two
reasons. Firstly, it is critical that we begin addressing sustainable issues in a
much more substantial manner than has been evident to date. Secondly, if design
is to contribute to human culture in a more meaningful way then it has to move
beyond the often shallow, style-based notions of product design that have
become so prevalent over the last 50 years.
Here, a discussion of approaches to sustainable design that might be termed
‘incremental product improvement’ models, are contrasted with approaches that
Keywords
sustainability, product design, material culture, novelty,
consumerism, moderation.
Related Book
Other papers in this volume
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