In the December 2007 issue of the David Report, David Carlson his editorial team discusses the interpretations of sustainability and extends the notion of what is sustainable, to a mix of components that are necessary to achieve real sustainability. The ideas were elaborated at the Designboost conference of 2007, in Malmo, Sweden.

They propose and open-minded and dynamic definition, summarised in seven themes, the spokes of a wheel of sustainability.

Environmental influence

“to have an aspiration to affect the environment as little as possible”
Designers need to look at the whole picture, not merely selected parts of being eco friendly or organic.

Innovation

“to develop unique attributes on several levels”
Designers should focus on creating new functions that improve our lives, and to be inclusive rather than exclusive.

Emotional connection

“to be part of the user”
Designers should focus on tactile and sensorial engagement of users. “What makes us want to keep certain objects while we throw away others without thinking?”

Aesthetics

“to age with grace”
Designers should “look into the basics of technological maturity and let such experience contribute to the creation of longer-lasting products.”

Quality

“to own multi-quality capacities”
Real sustainable design is timeless, artifacts that people cherish and keep for a long period of time.

Authenticity

“to be able to tell a credible story”
“Will future consumers see a Swedish designed but Chinese produced Orrefors glass vase as Swedish? Don’t you think that some of the authenticity gets lost in the Chinese mass-production? Maybe some of the substance and history as well?” Products are storytelling and designers must focus on conveying and authentic story with objects.

Compatibility

“to be part of a bigger coherence”
Artifacts such as Lego or Bang & Olufsen carry a compatibility over time, respecting the old while encouraging new innovation. Designers should create common platforms that build sustainable co-ordination advantages.

Source: David Report Issue 8/2007

Sustainability is a central theme in future design. For the past few years, we have taken the step to recognise its importance. However, for various reasons, sustainability has been trivialised to products that embody elements of sustainability, but that does not secure us a sustainable future.

In essence, what the David report proposes is a theme that reoccurs in other sources analysing our approach to a sustainable future (ex. Thrope – the designer’s atlas of sustainability). Ultimately, all designers, not specialists in sustainability, must reconsider how we design for the future. Design must embody a multitude of elements, to be truly sustainable and those elements must put focus on what brings us genuine human well-being.

September has started, and it is time to start our master thesis. Today, we were finally introduced to the topic for this year’s master projects. Although, I would have expected more than two options to choose between, I was positively surprised that Domus has taken a little step outside of their comfort zone, in developing one of the themes for this year’s thesis.

The theme is “Trojan horse – Sustainability as a virus”. At first glance, they may be quite confusing, but as you elaborate, it starts making a lot of sense.

Sustainability, in the context of design, is frequently associated with a ’sacrifice’ of something. Although, there is a special skill in developing sustainable, ecologically friendly products…there is still a reluctance in the design community to focus 100% on sustainability in design, as it is perceived as a limitation, a sacrifice in designing a product experience.

Furthermore, design in the context of sustainability, has been pushed back to a classic dilemma of the design community. A lot of ’sustainable’ design today, has its origins in sustainable materials or engineering innovations that is merely applied by the designer. This makes the designer primarily a ’stylist’, giving form to the inventions by engineers. Historically, this is a dilemma the design community has been wrestling with, trying to underline that design is not equal to styling, but far beyond that.

Trojan horse :: sustainability as a virus encourages us to look at sustainability from a different perspective. What if we would never be aware of the fact that we are behaving sustainably? What if the product that we buy provides us a genuine pleasure, and sustainability is a secondary point? What if we could create a product that not only sustainable, but spreads sustainable behaviour, like a virus? In that context, we are asked to take inspiration from a ‘trojan horse’ and how a ‘virus’ multiplies and spreads in a computer system, and use this as the starting point for designing a truly sustainable product.

This project will be a genuine challenge. Although, I am very enthusiastic about the brief, if this would be easy, we would already have a lot such products around us.

Research plan

Initial framing of topic

On sustainability

• Definition
• Theoretical discussion
• Examples of sustainable design

On pleasure (in product design)

• Definition
• Theoretical discussion
• Examples of sensual, sensorial, pleasurable or productsfor well-being

Ideation

• Spontaneous reflections
• Potential target user groups
• Social problem setting

Research summary

• Definition of interpretations of sustainable and of pleasure
• Definition of problem context
• Framing relevant research with the context
• Chart potential directions for concept development

Blogging is a fascinating transformation of media, where all of us have the simplest of tools at our disposal, to participate in a global debate on whichever topics we choose. For this reason, many times in the past I have tried to establish my blog and filling it with relevant and fascinating topics of society, technology, business and design. Yet, at the end of the day, it is difficult to dedicate yourself to a blog, as it lacks elements of being tangible and giving sufficient emotional connection…Unless of course, it really captures a true passion in life.

Well, after a few confusing months at design school in Milano, I believe that I have found a direction that gives me reason to return to my blog. I took the step from business development into design, because I was looking for a different approach to creative problem solving. Ironically, I find that what most designers are blaming the business community for, the design community itself is part of the root of the problem. However, with that in mind, I also believe that designers do have an ability to influence thinking that will one day penetrate the future of business. Therefore, how we choose to approach the sustainability of our future is a most relevant challenges ahead of us. I am pleased to see that (although possibly a bit late) even the Domus Academy is now embracing this challenge and hopefully giving it a new perspective that will have some ability to enlighten minds of the future.