During the seminar, I was on the ”FOR” team, regarding the statement that designers are not sustainable or environmentally friendly. Although changes have been made within the industry, I believe we have yet to make effective, long-lasting changes. I find it that the so called “changes” are merely superficial, as the idea of ”design” in and of itself is about constantly coming up with something new and original. This is not to say that designers don’t bring back and look at the past quite often, but I believe it should be more about upcycled materials and pieces of furniture rather than just bringing back trends. I think every domain of design, such as fashion design or interior design is extremely wasteful, and very few designers actually strive to make an effort when it comes to reusing the elements they work with. I think the industry is going on a greener path, but there is a lot of work left to do. Perhaps, there are a few firms making a substantial difference, such as Terreform ONE. During one of the architectural society lectures this semester, we had the honour to receive a talk from the creator himself, Mitchell Joachim. As a trained architect, he’s always found his domain to be quite wasteful and not aiming for greater purposes. His entire ideology behind the firm was the idea of creating architecture that truly serves and solves an issue, not just something that is visually pleasing or makes a statement. Thus, he decided to intertwine architecture with technology an sustainability. Their projects start by looking at the nature around us and what it has to offer and they draw inspiration from any source of life. Their cricket shelter for instance, is a daring project that is meant to be a prototype for potential future insect farms, as they are proving to be a great source of protein , especially in our current climate, where resources are fading away at an accelerated rate.
Although I do still believe design and architecture are amongst the most wasteful domains, I do strongly believe that there is so much potential left unexplored. As designers we have the tools and creativity to truly make a change, I think it’s just a matter of actually being willing to. And it is evident that firms such as Terraform ONE are eager to pass the baton.
Sources: Joachim, Mitchell. et al. (2021) Design with Life. New York City: Actar D.
fig1: Cricket Farm – terreform.org
