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‘SPACESHIP EARTH’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st Century
Ed GillespieCreative Director, FUTERRA
Introduction…
• Spaceship Earth• Our current situation• Principles of sustainable design• Role of the designer• The challenge
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Spaceship Earth“Design Science is the effective application of
the principles of science to the conscious design of our total environment in order to help make the Earth's finite resources meet the needs of all
humanity without disrupting the ecological processes of the planet“
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
R. Buckminster
Fuller
Sustainable Development
• “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (UN)
• Integrating economic, social and environmental decision-making
• Treating the world as if we intended to stay
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Sustainable Design“Have nothing in your houses that
you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”
• Fit for purpose/function• Attractive to look at• Sustainable: How produced,
how durable, how disposed of/reused/recycled?
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
William Morris
Our current situation
Global population• c.1800 1 billion people• 1960 3 billion• Currently 6,377,776,644 (approx. 6.4B)• Gain 1 billion people every 11 years
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
“The question is not ‘How many people can the earth support’ but rather at what quality of life?”
Isaac Asimov
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Our current situation (cont.)
Ecological footprinting…• Area of biologically productive land
required to meet resource demands, dispose of wastes etc
UK footprint = 5.2 hectares/capitaUK capacity = 1.7 hectares/capitaUS footprint = 10.3 hectares/capitaUS capacity = 6.7 hectares/capita
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Three Planet Living
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Life’s not fair…
• 1 billion people live below the poverty line• 2 billion lack safe water, 3.1 billion
sanitation• 20% population is in developed world but
they are responsible for:– 80% of commercial energy use– 75% of timber– 50% of fish and grain– 40% of fresh water
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
The Countdown…
By 2050 at current consumption we will need:
• 8.5 planets to absorb our carbon dioxide• 6 planets worth of steel• 3.5 planets to sustain cement supply• 3.5 planets to meet current timber demand
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
What gives?!
• Clearly unsustainable…• Global inequalities• Scale of the challenge• Managing ‘needs’ vs ‘wants’
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Principles of sustainable design
• Efficiency• Reduction• Equity• Scale• Sufficiency• System
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Efficiency
• Disassembly• Substitution• Lifecycle thinking• Dematerialisation• Durability• Cascading• Recycling• Factor 4
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Examples…
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Equity
• Environmental justice• Fair trade• Green economics – the
economics of ‘enough’
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Scale
• Interactions• Schumacher• ‘Glocalisation’• Sustainable production and
consumption
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Sufficiency
• How much is enough?!• The power of design“Advertising preys on the weakness of its host,
creates insatiable hunger & leads to debilitating over-consumption…in biological terms things of this nature are parasites!”
Alan Durning
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Other factors…
• Gross National Product (Economists have to learn to subtract!)
• Purpose of consumption?• What is a need?• Design for sustainability
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
System• Everything is connected!• Natural cycles are key to sustainable
design• Photosynthesis vs Fossil Fuels• Functional design vs stylised design
‘I think it's a shame that designers are becoming more and more fixated on outward appearance and
degrade themselves into mere stylists' Axel Thallemer
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Role of Designer
• Conflict between ‘Eco-design’ and the mainstream
• Sustainable development information often inaccessible, complex and elusive
• Redefining the context of design training
• Current focus on environmental profile/process of a product…
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Role of Designer (cont.)
• Magnitude of change required• Small incremental changes to current
approach not enough…• Integral not add-on
‘We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them’
Albert Einstein
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Biomimicry
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Case Studies
Where SUSTAINABLE design becomes GREAT design
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
BedZed
• Carbon neutral• Rainwater harvesting• Car club• Green space/high
density• Green roof• Modern design• Community
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
BayGen
• Wind-up radio• HIV education• Solar cell• Environmental, social
and aesthetic aims
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Red Hot Asphalt
• Sun heats tarmac• High traffic only shades
surface 4 hours per day• Air T = 15 degrees C• Asphalt T = 50 degrees C• Plastic tubing collects
warmth for space heating in adjacent buildings
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
No Shop
• Design installation• Anti-consumerism
campaign• Nothing on display
or for sale• No shop bags and
till receipts with environmental information
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Spaceship Earth…
• Finite world of finite resources• Growing pressures and population• Our responsibility• The solutions are out there…
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
Bucky says…“Think of it. We are blessed with
technology that would be indescribable to our forefathers. We have the wherewithal, the know-it-all, to feed everybody, clothe everybody, give every human on earth a
chance. We know now what we could never have known before—that we now have an
option for all humanity to “make it” successfully on this planet in this lifetime. Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to
the final moment.”
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
•
‘Spaceship Earth’
Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21st
Century
