ERIKA GREGORY & JENNY HOANG, COLLECTIVE INVENTION, TRELLO RESOURCES
Comments:
Erika: Not specifically related to sustainable futures, but I am always fond of these future/present/past mashups and find them helpful if only for their humor
Erika: Not specifically related to sustainable futures, but I am always fond of these future/present/past mashups and find them helpful if only for their humor
Sustainable Futures Exhibition
http://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2010/sustainable-futures
http://wearebuild.com/archives/sustainable-futures-exhibition/
From the world’s first carbon neutral city to a refrigerator which doubles as an aquarium, this exhibition explored a range of products, concepts and projects that address issues of sustainability in their design. Through prototypes, samples, products and film, you can find out more about your impact on the world and how to change it.
Presented around five themes: Cities, Energy and Economics, Food, Materiality and Creative Citizens, this overview highlighted the changing role of the designer and reveals how design can make a difference.
Comments:
Jenny: Why: This exhibition shares futuristic objects for museum attendees to interact with. In order to shift the sustainability conversation from overwhelming helplessness/confusion to one of empowered and engaged action, interactive experiences where participants can actually see, feel, hear, touch and taste a possible sustainable future would be powerful.
What works: While there aren't many details in the article, the description talks about how the exhibit allows you to "find out more about your impact on the world and how to change it." This is an important concept to drive home with participants - one that personalizes our effects on the planet and individual action.
Additionally, the use of live exhibition space in a museum that is open to the public is a good choice for exposure.
What's missing: The exhibition can be much more experiential. It's setup is almost like a expo with tables full of products. Embellishing on this concept would include creating a world in which these artifacts could exist and allowing participants to truly engage and imagine what it would feel like to live in a sustainable world.
http://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2010/sustainable-futures
http://wearebuild.com/archives/sustainable-futures-exhibition/
From the world’s first carbon neutral city to a refrigerator which doubles as an aquarium, this exhibition explored a range of products, concepts and projects that address issues of sustainability in their design. Through prototypes, samples, products and film, you can find out more about your impact on the world and how to change it.
Presented around five themes: Cities, Energy and Economics, Food, Materiality and Creative Citizens, this overview highlighted the changing role of the designer and reveals how design can make a difference.
Comments:
Jenny: Why: This exhibition shares futuristic objects for museum attendees to interact with. In order to shift the sustainability conversation from overwhelming helplessness/confusion to one of empowered and engaged action, interactive experiences where participants can actually see, feel, hear, touch and taste a possible sustainable future would be powerful.
What works: While there aren't many details in the article, the description talks about how the exhibit allows you to "find out more about your impact on the world and how to change it." This is an important concept to drive home with participants - one that personalizes our effects on the planet and individual action.
Additionally, the use of live exhibition space in a museum that is open to the public is a good choice for exposure.
What's missing: The exhibition can be much more experiential. It's setup is almost like a expo with tables full of products. Embellishing on this concept would include creating a world in which these artifacts could exist and allowing participants to truly engage and imagine what it would feel like to live in a sustainable world.
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Comments:
Jenny: Why: Pixar is amazing at creating stories that draws you in and this one incidentally has a sustainability cautionary tale weaved into it. What works: The use of expert storytelling using the powerful movie medium. It illustrates a bleak future on planet Earth - an apocalyptic one where we have abandoned our planet to live on a spaceship and continue our lifestyles of overconsumption. There is a happy ending when humankind returns to Earth and is motivated to restore the planet they left in shambles. The characters know they have a lot of work to do but they express empowerment in overcoming their challenges. |
These messages of planetary destruction due to overconsumption is balanced with empowerment, a balance that would help shift the sustainability conversation.
What is missing: It's set in a seemingly far and distant future that makes it easy to write off as "well it won't be my problem." Also, while the movie presents one clue to restoring our planet - replanting a plant, it gives us little idea, let alone actionable ones, as to how we might actually reverse the damage we have done.
Stuart: Great selections and comments Jenny, thanks!
http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679836/steampunking-an-old-building-to-make-it-more-efficient#1
New architecture is great, but in some cases people in the 19th century had things figured out just fine. Sometimes the best way to make a building cutting edge is to go back to the original design.
Comments:
Jenny:
Why: In the green building space, there tends to be a lot of press for new, bright and shiny LEED-certified buildings. This article talks about the historical renovation of the old San Francisco Mint building - bringing up the important concept that renovating our existing building stock has a lower ecological footprint that new construction.
When people think about the future of our planet, people feel they can wash their hands of being active in sustainability efforts because they sense the we will invent ourselves out of our problems through new technology. A better, and likely more probable, message is that it'll be a mix of old and new solutions.
What works: The use of an edgy subculture like Steampunk (Victorian-era mixed with new technology) is useful here because nostalgia is an emotion that many people resonate with. It's often used in ad campaigns because of how strong the emotion is. It also lends itself to a well-known sustainability theme around the joy of going back to the "old way of doing things" - growing your own food, riding bikes, DIY, etc.
What's missing: The article ends with a quick note on resilience. It would be great if the author spoke more to this theme and how it connects to sustainability. Much of the sustainability conversation is moving to resilience and there have been a few articles recently that speak to the importance of expanding our thinking in this way. (see NYT article in resources list)
That said, there are a lot of buzz words already floating around that many people don't understand - there is always the risk of alienating newcomers to the space with yet another complicated, related concept.
Stuart: Cool concept, though I find the visual a little too rough to bring it to life for me.
New architecture is great, but in some cases people in the 19th century had things figured out just fine. Sometimes the best way to make a building cutting edge is to go back to the original design.
Comments:
Jenny:
Why: In the green building space, there tends to be a lot of press for new, bright and shiny LEED-certified buildings. This article talks about the historical renovation of the old San Francisco Mint building - bringing up the important concept that renovating our existing building stock has a lower ecological footprint that new construction.
When people think about the future of our planet, people feel they can wash their hands of being active in sustainability efforts because they sense the we will invent ourselves out of our problems through new technology. A better, and likely more probable, message is that it'll be a mix of old and new solutions.
What works: The use of an edgy subculture like Steampunk (Victorian-era mixed with new technology) is useful here because nostalgia is an emotion that many people resonate with. It's often used in ad campaigns because of how strong the emotion is. It also lends itself to a well-known sustainability theme around the joy of going back to the "old way of doing things" - growing your own food, riding bikes, DIY, etc.
What's missing: The article ends with a quick note on resilience. It would be great if the author spoke more to this theme and how it connects to sustainability. Much of the sustainability conversation is moving to resilience and there have been a few articles recently that speak to the importance of expanding our thinking in this way. (see NYT article in resources list)
That said, there are a lot of buzz words already floating around that many people don't understand - there is always the risk of alienating newcomers to the space with yet another complicated, related concept.
Stuart: Cool concept, though I find the visual a little too rough to bring it to life for me.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency called a press conference Monday to publicly denounce the environment for blatantly refusing to pull its weight in mankind's ongoing efforts at ecological conservation.
http://onion.com/c3v2KN
Comments:
Jenny: Why: The Onion is a satirical news publication that creates fake articles to poke fun of American news media. The use of humor in discussing difficult social issues has been effective in getting mainstream audiences to be more open-minded about these topics. We have seen this technique used in issues of race and gender in America.
What works: This article manages to show both the ecological challenges we are facing as well as the sustainability efforts that attempt to address them. All of this is conveyed through entertaining language that makes the article very readable and accessible.
What's missing: There is always a thin line between cheekiness and making light of a serious issue. The concept of the environment "not pulling it's weight" is useful in showing that we still have a long way to go in our efforts, but it can also carry a tone of ineffectiveness - that is, no matter what we do, we can't seem to get anywhere.
Vanessa: I agree with the importance of the use of humour and there is a bit of culture jamming going on here too.
http://onion.com/c3v2KN
Comments:
Jenny: Why: The Onion is a satirical news publication that creates fake articles to poke fun of American news media. The use of humor in discussing difficult social issues has been effective in getting mainstream audiences to be more open-minded about these topics. We have seen this technique used in issues of race and gender in America.
What works: This article manages to show both the ecological challenges we are facing as well as the sustainability efforts that attempt to address them. All of this is conveyed through entertaining language that makes the article very readable and accessible.
What's missing: There is always a thin line between cheekiness and making light of a serious issue. The concept of the environment "not pulling it's weight" is useful in showing that we still have a long way to go in our efforts, but it can also carry a tone of ineffectiveness - that is, no matter what we do, we can't seem to get anywhere.
Vanessa: I agree with the importance of the use of humour and there is a bit of culture jamming going on here too.