mercoledì, aprile 04, 2007
Jonathan Chapman, author of the recently published ‘Emotionally Durable Design’, is a lecturer at the University of Brighton. He spoke to us about the book and his reasons for writing it.
Briefly, as you see it, what is the main message or central point of the book?
Situated within the growing knowledge field of sustainable design this book investigates the emotional durability of objects to both isolate and understand the psychological and emotional factors that influence product longevity; pioneering more enduring modes of design, production and consumption for a wasteful era of limited sustainable design progress, within a context of increasing waste minimizing legislation.
What made you decide to write it? Were there any particular events, examples, personal experiences etc. (positive or negative)?
As a sustainable designer, I was growing frustrated with the wasteful superficiality of Design, in its nurturing of endless cycles of desire and disappointment within consumers. I was astonished to learn that landfills are actually packed with stratum upon stratum of durable goods that slowly compact and surrender working order beneath a substantial volume of similar scrap. It appeared clear to me that there is little point designing physical durability into consumer goods, if there is no consumer desire to keep them. I also felt grave concern as to the future of Sustainable Design, with its current focus on the results, or symptoms, of our wasteful and inefficient consumption, rather than the underlying causes. Clearly, there are debates to be had about how we should move forward; this book is a catalyst to such debates.
From what do you take the greatest encouragement (again in relation to the book)?
Given that this book represents 3 years of my life, and contains just about every thought I have ever had on the issue of design and consumption, I take great encouragement from knowing that this information is now globally available, and is no longer confined to my head. I am also encouraged by the fact that people really get what this book is about, and are genuinely excited by the significant opportunities that it proposes for Design – having read the book, people are no longer scared by what it proposes, but instead, are motivated to reconsider their practice and redirect their work toward a more enduring and sustainable model.
How positive are you (and what indications do you have?) that the ideas expressed in the book will be accepted and implemented?
In many ways this book is a toolkit that assists in the creation of objects with enduring and emotionally durable characteristics. Of course, not everyone will accept and implement the ideas put forward by this book – that is the nature of the provocative and the new. However, many will, to pioneer a new and effective genre of Sustainable Design that addresses the root-causes of the ecological crisis we face, to challenge convention and bring about the changes that are so urgently needed.
Is there anything else you think might be of interest to someone reading this article?
If like me, you are a designer with a great passion for creative practice, but with an equally powerful concern for the ethical dimension of your work, read this book. You are not alone.
Briefly, as you see it, what is the main message or central point of the book?
Situated within the growing knowledge field of sustainable design this book investigates the emotional durability of objects to both isolate and understand the psychological and emotional factors that influence product longevity; pioneering more enduring modes of design, production and consumption for a wasteful era of limited sustainable design progress, within a context of increasing waste minimizing legislation.
What made you decide to write it? Were there any particular events, examples, personal experiences etc. (positive or negative)?
As a sustainable designer, I was growing frustrated with the wasteful superficiality of Design, in its nurturing of endless cycles of desire and disappointment within consumers. I was astonished to learn that landfills are actually packed with stratum upon stratum of durable goods that slowly compact and surrender working order beneath a substantial volume of similar scrap. It appeared clear to me that there is little point designing physical durability into consumer goods, if there is no consumer desire to keep them. I also felt grave concern as to the future of Sustainable Design, with its current focus on the results, or symptoms, of our wasteful and inefficient consumption, rather than the underlying causes. Clearly, there are debates to be had about how we should move forward; this book is a catalyst to such debates.
From what do you take the greatest encouragement (again in relation to the book)?
Given that this book represents 3 years of my life, and contains just about every thought I have ever had on the issue of design and consumption, I take great encouragement from knowing that this information is now globally available, and is no longer confined to my head. I am also encouraged by the fact that people really get what this book is about, and are genuinely excited by the significant opportunities that it proposes for Design – having read the book, people are no longer scared by what it proposes, but instead, are motivated to reconsider their practice and redirect their work toward a more enduring and sustainable model.
How positive are you (and what indications do you have?) that the ideas expressed in the book will be accepted and implemented?
In many ways this book is a toolkit that assists in the creation of objects with enduring and emotionally durable characteristics. Of course, not everyone will accept and implement the ideas put forward by this book – that is the nature of the provocative and the new. However, many will, to pioneer a new and effective genre of Sustainable Design that addresses the root-causes of the ecological crisis we face, to challenge convention and bring about the changes that are so urgently needed.
Is there anything else you think might be of interest to someone reading this article?
If like me, you are a designer with a great passion for creative practice, but with an equally powerful concern for the ethical dimension of your work, read this book. You are not alone.
Etichette: Design Emotivo, design sostenibile, inglese, intervista
