A group effort to design a modern take on a Chaise Longue.
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@delusiondesign
A group effort to design a modern take on a Chaise Longue.
Sketching in 3rd and 4rth dimensions in generation of camera concepts and criteria.
INDN 212 project 1 - Part 2 Fibre-Optic Concrete Lamp
DSDN284 Project 3 Portfolio Recycled camera parts into garden incubator
FerroFluid is a magnetic fluid, often used in speakers and machinery, this time, I am exploring it's movements when humans interact with it.
INDN 211 Project 3 Presentation
A singular steel pen that I made, out of the set of steel pens I've designed "for Vivienne Westwood to write love letters with"
Indn 211 Project 1 Presentation
Design Work For Course MDDN251 - Physical Computing
For the rest of the Media Project Progress, check out my blog
Mid-Project Contextualisation/Proposal
Gas Sensor that detects the levels of Carbon Dioxide in the air, and slows a DC motor with higher the Carbon Dioxide levels. The levels are graphed on a host web server on a live-scrolling graph, when the levels reach a set threshold, change light colour of RGB LED.
Useful Links:
TI – Wiki : http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/CC3000_Host_Programming_Guide#UDP_Socket_API
GitHub – plotly/arduino-api : https://github.com/plotly/arduino-api
Plot.ly : https://plot.ly/feed/
Plot.ly – Arduino + Analog Sensor : https://plot.ly/arduino/light-sensor-tutorial/
Adafruit Forum : https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=64690
Instructables : http://www.instructables.com/id/RGB-LED-Tutorial-using-an-Arduino-RGBL/
Instructables : http://www.instructables.com/id/Bubble-Machine/?ALLSTEPS
When the switch is turned on, Arduino sends the analog signals from the Gas Sensor to a host web server using a CC3000 WiFi Shield. The host web server plots the live-scrolling graph and when the Carbon Dioxide levels reach set thresholds, the Arduino speeds up, or slows down the DC Motor accordingly, so the higher the level of CO2 in the air, the slower the DC Motor will run. Also, while the thresholds affect the DC Motor, they also change the colour of the RGB LED. This project departs from my previous two projects because I am now trying to host my Live-Scrolling graph on a web server, instead of Processing, using my CC3000 shield. I am going to incorporate a switch/button and an RGB LED also, the switch to turn on the device, and an RGB LED to give extra visual information alongside the bubbles.
Hardware: • Arduino Uno (Freetronics) • CC3000 Wifi Shield (T.I.) • Computer • CO2 Sensor (DFRobot) • Switch/button • RGB LED • DC Motor with Fan (bubble machine) • Transistor PN2222 • Diode 1N4001 • 270 Ω Resistor Software: • Arduino (version 1.0.6) • Plotly library (includes old Adafruit CC3000 library : UPDATE ) • Adafruit CC3000 Library
Schematics and Visuals:
Outline of Technical Concepts: Freetronics Eleven R3: The Freetronics Eleven has everything the Arduino has, plus updates and improvements, to make using and setting up the product easier, and bringing down its overall cost. The device is connected via micro-USB and has all its components placed in the same spot as the Arduino.
CC3000 Wi-Fi Shield (T.I.): The CC3000 Wi-Fi Shield, produced by Texas Instruments, is a independent contained wireless network processor that makes implementing the internet into your project simple. It has easy to follow Adafruit and Plotly tutorials to connect to a host server, and plot the results on the internet. It has however, been replaced by updated models, twice, so I wouldn’t recommend this shield for new projects. My shield fits directly on top of my Freetronics Eleven R3.
CO2 Sensor (DFRobot): Involving a Carbon Dioxide sensor into your ideas means we can design projects that directly affect the Carbon Dioxide levels in our environment. As the Carbon Dioxide levels read by the sensor rise, the voltage output of the module itself drops. To get the most accurate readings from the sensor, let it warm up for at least 10 minutes, in still air (inside). The module is able to read Carbon Dioxide levels in moving wind, but it will be an ambient value. My Carbon Dioxide sensor will be plugged into Analog 0 input, and will use the 5V supply input.
DC Motor with Fan: Considering making new set up with continuous servo, which would slightly complicate things, but not drastically. To control DC Motors you use PWM, or Pulse Width Modulation. They can be connected either way around. In the code I have used, the transistor is acting as the switch in the situation, controlling the current. The code reads the Gas Sensor, maps down the signal to PWM and uses that data to control the speed of the motor.
Topic of Focus: I’m working on a portable, sculptural mechanism that conveys the views I’ve developed regarding the climate crisis. As a child I loved bubbles, I’m not sure of a child who doesn’t. I loved standing over the sink, mixing up some dishwashing liquid and water; I loved blowing so hard into the little wand that I lost my breath and the bubble mixture got everywhere. I loved their fragile, shiny surface and longed to touch them, to know what every single one felt like before they burst under my touch. And as we grow, we never lose that love. Using a bubble machine as my base mechanism in this project brought a rather ironic feel to it all. Washing up liquid, the thing we use every night to clean up our mess, used in a machine that creates wonderfully fragile objects controlled entirely by human mess. Using carbon dioxide to affect my bubble machine was an idea I had while reading through the trillionthtonne.org. This website has been provided by the Oxford e-Research Center to explain to the public how much we need to limit our cumulative carbon dioxide outflow. We have already released half a trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide since industrialisation began in 1750, causing 1 degree of global warming. At the rate we are currently emitting, by 2039 we will have reached our Trillionth Tonne, resulting in the 2nd degree of global warming caused by humans, which is widely regarded as the globe’s threshold for the most serious impacts of climate change.
While researching societal thinking around the environment, I found growing concern in everyday thinking around the topic. Designing to re-use, or to bio-degrade is on the rise with increased global interest in material composition. McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry is a direct result of this growing concern, working towards getting rid of the idea that ‘minimising harm’ is good enough, and power into designing to have a wholly positive impact on the world beneath our feet. This thinking is what drove me towards choosing a wooden body for my Bubble Machine. The fact that wood bio-degrades, becoming compost for future plants, with the added bonus that all the electrical components will be re-used, made it an strong, affordable, environmentally-friendly material that needs very little modification to serve its purpose. A similar thought process was used by Eben Bayer, the inventor of MycoBond. He found a “filamentous fungi” that allowed him to create a mycelium based packaging and insulating plastic, much like polyethylene packing foam; which we all know has no use after you’ve taken your new product out of its box. This particular plastic however, can be thrown away into your backyard, where it will decompose, enriching the soil around it with vitamins and nutrients needed for it to thrive.
Production Focus: Body: Because my project is so environmentally focused, I wanted to make the body out of wood. I will need to coat the place where the bubble mixture is held, to prevent to wood from deteriorating. Soldering: The soldering I am going to space out onto several small bits of perf board, as I have minimal small components and won’t need it. Instead I need to connect components over a fairly large area, and instead of having some wires short and some long; where the wires have more chance of getting damaged, having the wires at an equal length, connected in fewer places, will reduce that chance. Bubble Blade: The bubble blade will be made out of plastic, because it will be used so often in liquid (preferably a hemp or recyclable plastic). It will have to be thin and light, to prevent strain on the motor. I figure the easiest way to make this piece would be on the laser-cutter, as it’s fast and simple, and then attaching the wheel to a tube connecting it to the motor would complete be simple. Holding Components: To continue with the environmental streak, I’ve been thinking of using dowels with holes drilled down the center to hold the componentry. Attaching these to the main body will need some wood glue, but that’s easy enough to acquire. This will make it both easy and cheap solution for a problem almost overlooked. Struggles During Production: The major struggle during this project has been connecting the CC3000 Wi-Fi module to a host server. The module itself has no problems connecting to the internet, but connecting to a host server has been hell. Every .zip file that I’ve downloaded according to the host website’s tutorial instructions has been missing files, or refused to locate certain files.
Timeline:
Visuals:
Piotr Boruslawski. (28 May 2015). Be Aware of the Air You Breathe with Bitfinder Awair. Retrieved from: http://www.designboom.com/technology/bitfinder-awair-05-28-2015/
Dablodeemu. (n.d.). Infared LED Rainbow Cloud. Retrieved from: http://www.instructables.com/id/IR-Rainbow-Cloud-ver-1/
Qtechknow. (n.d.) Fart Detecting Gas Cap. Retrieved from: http://www.instructables.com/id/Gas-Cap/
Stijnl. (n.d.) Ardusniffer. Retrieved from: http://www.instructables.com/id/Gas-detector-indicator-USB-powered-with-arduin/
Media Project Headway
Okay, so the dc motor goes, and the gas sensor reads to processing Reference: http://learn.spacesuit.com/adafruit-arduino-lesson-13-dc-motors
Now how do I get the motor to respond to the gas levels?
Media Project Headway
Got Processing to read Serial through Arduino! Reference: http://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/connecting-arduino-to-processing
Media Project Headway
Media Mid-Project Proposal
Holly Jensen 300315640 MDDN 251 Project 2 Project Proposal
A column of small balloons, each with a small LED inside, lights up in set patterns when vibration/pressure is sensed, according to “Twitter Mood”.
Links that may be useful:
http://duino4projects.com/pressure-activated-light-up-umbrella-using-an-arduino/
http://duino4projects.com/how-to-control-8-leds-using-arduino-uno/
http://duino4projects.com/how-to-control-a-ton-of-rgb-leds-with-arduino-tlc5940/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Twitter-Mood-Light-The-Worlds-Mood-in-a-Box/
When someone touches a touch sensor, white LED’s inside the column of balloons light up and fade away after 30 seconds. There are 2 RGB LED’s spaced out in the center of the column that stay on for 10 min. Once the touch sensor has been touched, the computer grabs data from twitter showing the mood of the worlds tweets using certain search terms to locate mood, the RGB LED’s will change colour accordingly, effectively showing a snapshot of world mood in the form of a light.
Hardware:
· Wifi Shield
· Breakaway headers
· 5mm RGB LED’s x 2
· 180 ohm(x2), 100 ohm(x4) resistors
· Wire
· Small printed circuit board
· USB cable A to B to connect Arduino to computer
· Solder
· Source code
· Balloons
· White LED’s (x48)
· Acrylic tube?
· Touch sensor
· AC/DC adapter
Software needed:
· Arduino
· Wifi
Outline of technical concepts:
Gathering the data from Twitter and connecting certain phrases to certain colours, showing the response to global events. Different colours are the world’s overall reaction to different things that are happening, lets the owner know that something has happened, time to check the news. Acts also as a general light (integrating industrial major). Could possibly also use same general technique to measure how often people mention climate change/the climate crisis/ the environment on twitter – worried=blue, positive=green, angry=red, fearful=white etc
Visuals of previous related work:
The World’s Mood in a Box - RandomMatrix, (http://www.instructables.com/id/Twitter-Mood-Light-The-Worlds-Mood-in-a-Box/?ALLSTEPS)
Use a gas sensor to detect when the air around it is polluted, release stream of bubbles when it is polluted, track on graph.
Links that may be useful:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Smell-Pollutants/?ALLSTEPS
playground.arduino.cc/Main/MQGasSensors
http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Graph
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-arduino-lesson-13-dc-motors/overview
http://playground.arduino.cc/interfacing/processing
http://www.gicentre.net/utils
http://www.instructables.com/id/ArduinoServoPotentiometer/
When the switch is turned on, the analog signals from the gas sensor are sent via Wifi and graphed (using Processing) showing the pollutant levels in the air and releasing a stream of bubbles when said levels reach a certain threshold. Could potentially put an eco-friendly air freshener/cleaner in bubbles?
Thinking about it, this project is a way of me expressing my view on the Climate Crisis, the air becoming so polluted not so much here in New Zealand, but globally, we need to find a way to clean the air (‘bubble mix’/detergent used to clean up after ourselves when we have dishes that need doing). We could potentially look at the way trees convert certain pollutants back into clean, breathable air, and use that knowledge to design an object that acts in the same way in smoggy areas of the world. Of course, this idea may not work on all pollutants, but it’s a starting point.
Hardware:
· Arduino
· Wifi Shield
· USB A-B
· Computer
· Potentiometer (500-1K ohms)
· Switch
· Gas sensor
· DC motor (bubble machine)
· PN2222 Transistor
· 1N4001 Diode
Software:
· Arduino
· Processing
Outline of technical concepts:
Measuring the levels of pollutants in the air (from control) and using that data to incrimentally increase the length of time that the DC motor spins for, thus adjusting the amount or intensity of the bubbles getting blown. This voices to the public how much cleaning the air needs to be as clean as the control and hopefully bringing light to the rising pollution levels around the world.
Visuals of previous related work:
EveryAware SensorBox - http://www.everyaware.eu/activities/case-studies/air-quality/
Media Project Concept Code
/* code modified from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-control-the-speed-of-a-dc-motor-with-the-ar.html */
const int motorPin = 9; // led connected to digital pin 9 const int knockSensor = A0; // the piezo is connected to analog pin 0 const int threshold = 10; // threshold value to decide when the detected sound is a knock or not const int THRESHOLD = 20; int sensorReading = 0; // variable to store the value read from the sensor pin int motorState ; // variable used to store the last LED status, to toggle the light void setup() { pinMode(motorPin, OUTPUT); // declare the ledPin as as OUTPUT //pinMode(knockSensor, INPUT); //declare knock sensor as input Serial.begin(38400); // use the serial port } void loop() { // read the sensor and store it in the variable sensorReading: sensorReading = analogRead(knockSensor); // if the sensor reading is greater than the threshold: if (sensorReading >= threshold) { // toggle the status of the ledPin: // motorState = !motorState; // update the LED pin itself: digitalWrite(motorPin, HIGH); // send the string “Knock!” back to the computer, followed by newline delay(1); Serial.println(knockSensor); } else if (sensorReading >= THRESHOLD) { digitalWrite(motorPin, HIGH); delay(1); Serial.println(knockSensor); } else { digitalWrite( motorPin, LOW); } }
Media Project Research Document
1. I will build a device that uses values from an image input with x/y coordinates to spray paint the image input onto a surface.
What sensors will I use? nil
How do I use them? nil
What kind of processing/computation will be needed? Need to input an image, transform into x-y coordinates that the robot can read.
What platform do I choose for that?Processing/Arduino
What actuators will I use? Motor for robot arm, motor to press down on the spraycan bottles when called by program
What sort of outputs will I need for them? Nozzle, wheels to move arm to accurate coordinates.
How do I control the actuators I use with the platform I choose? Input image through Processing/Arduino and send signal to robot.
Idea and Method based from : http://www.instructables.com/id/Drawing-Robot/
Need:
1. Mechanical
Mechanix kit
Nut and bolts
Paint holder
2X Caster wheels
Hose
Spray-paint
2. Electronics
Arduino uno
PCB or Bread board
Power Supply (5V adapter with 2A current)
USB Cable
3. Servo Motors
servos
4. Tools
Soldering Iron
Soldering Wire
Screw driver
Drilling Machine
5. Software
Arduino IDE
Matlab (with Arduino IO)
Timeline:
2. I will build a device that uses motion/bend sensors to create different levels of sounds (different chords, volume, distortion), and communicates these levels to fairy lights which then react in relation to said levels of sound.
What sensors will I use? Motion sensors
How do I use them? Sensors pick up movement in joints, which produces sound depending on how much the joint in question has moved, different joints affect different areas of sound.
What kind of processing/computation will be needed? Different joints linked to different sounds/effects, different positions of each joint-sensor raises/lowers linked sound/effect, each joint-sensor affects lights in a similar manner to sound/effect that is linked to connecting joint-sensor.
What platform do I choose for that? Arduino
What actuators will I use? Motion/bend sensor
What sort of outputs will I need for them? Speaker, fairy lights
How do I control the actuators I use with the computingplatform I choose? The motion/bend sensors will be placed on different joints of the body, each sensor will have a different effect on sound (distortion, chords, volume) which will then have a corrosponding effect on fairy lights (pulses, speed of strings, brightness)
Idea and Method based from :
http://www.instructables.com/id/Gesture-Enable-your-Arduino-Project-with-a-Myo-Arm/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Light-Show-on-Music/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Controlled-Flashing-Christmas-Fairy-Lights/
Need:
AMPTRAC sensor strips
LED Sphere/ fairy lights to manipulate
An Arduino board like the Uno
The Arduino software/IDE
A Windows PC
Timeline :
3. I will build a device that detects the strength of a person’s footfall through a vibration sensor, and communicates that signal to a bubble machine which lets out a stream of bubbles (short stream for light vibrations, long stream for heavy vibration).
What sensors do I use? Vibration sensor (motion sensor)
How do I use them? The ‘motion sensor’ detects vibrations and sends the data to the bubble machine, which then lets out a corrosponding stream of bubbles.
What kind of processing/computation will be needed? Correlating the vibration strenth to the length of time that the bubble machine is working/spinning.
What platform do I choose for that? Arduino
What actuators will I use? The (spinning) motor in the bubble machine, the fan motor in the bubble machine, the (vibration) sensor.
What sort of outputs will I need for them? Wheel (to blow the bubbles out of )
How do I control the actuators I use with the comuting platform I use?
Idea and Method based from:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-simple-%22motion%22-sensors/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Motion-Sensitive-Bubble-Machine-with-littleBits/?ALLSTEPS
Need:
5V relay x1 black electrical tape wire for breadboarding
Power
Vibration/motion trigger
Timeout
Led
wire Optional Little Bits: sound sensor, light sensor, toggle switch alligator clips drill solderless breadboard wire cutter/stripper volt meter
Timeline:
Assignment 5
This essay explores how teaching youth to produce and sustain for themselves is the best possible starting point society can make into switching mentalities from a re-working culture, into a re-designed society that protects, preserves, and provides for our planet, and our communities. I will establish how the growing concern over material composition has pushed designers to establish solutions healthy for the Earth while highlighting the need for our global society to redesign the way we use materials instead of reworking the materials established as non-sustainable and environmentally poisonous. I will argue the importance of recycling as well as the simplicity of the action; and how teaching our children from a young age to care for the earth will install in them the knowledge of communal care, self-sustainability, and innovation.
Increasing concern has been shown by both consumers and designers alike in recent years about the material composition of the products that consumers themselves are buying, and the biodegradability of said materials. Eben Bayer (2015) and his team took the initiative, developing a biodegradable plastic that uses a mycelium based adhesive called MycoBond to grow agricultural waste into a non-toxic packaging plastic and insulation for housing, which, at the end of their life may be safely used as garden mulch or compost, providing any lacking nutrients or minerals that the earth may need to thrive. This is a cost-effective answer to a massive waste product we’ve created, as currently, polyethylene foam packaging, old insulation, used or broken plastic furniture and car bumpers are extremely hard to recycle, let alone their lack of bio-degradability. The fact that these products by Evocative biodegrade into the soil around them, supplementing any of the minerals that may be lacking, provides a perfect sanctuary for any plants the consumer wishes to grow. A haven right in your backyard. This planned lifetime of these products creates a connection for society to the Earth, where we are actually providing something that the Earth needs with things that we no longer require the use of, purely through consideration of materials and their effect on the environment, knowing where your materials are being supplied from, and planning how your product will be wasted. Architect William McDonough and chemist Dr. Michael Braungart (2015) founded the McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry in 1995 thinking exactly this, sparking the change in the way designers thought about their ideas on an environmental scale, with their company effectively providing a reliable methods for companies to establish solutions concerning material reapplication, material composition, and renewable material and energy consumption when developing their own products. Their integration of their ‘Cradle to Cradle design framework’ (2002) is helping companies globally to achieve environmental sustainability; to promote solutions revolving around composition, re-usability, and re-newability of materials, their effect on the environment and any communities it may affect. In short, planning out the life of the objects. These two companies have made it very easy and accessible for the general public to change the way they deal with their waste, and if society all starts getting involved now, due to the adaptive behaviours of humans as a species, society’s mind-set will develop as youth’s view our changed actions as normal, and think nothing of mimicking them (Karsten, 2005).
Highlighting to society the importance of recycling is the only way to get society to understand how living this ‘Cradle to Grave lifestyle’ is contaminating our planet. Clean paper and cardboard waste are simple and free for members of the community to recycle and ensure fewer trees are consumed needlessly. Glass, aluminium and steel are the most straightforward of our wastes to recycle, as they return the way that they were first produced, without the need for any new mineral additives (Recycle NZ). Paper4trees (2012) has begun a new program for schools around New Zealand, promoting recycling of paper and cardboard through their own in-house systems, and rewarding the students with native flora to plant around their schools, creating green, open, and fresh environments to enjoy being outside. Recycle NZ (n.d.) has also gotten involved and initiated several new movements: The first; getting schools and parents involved in teaching children about recycling. They have dedicated a section of their website to children involvement in recycling, providing sources for teachers, parents, or even the youth themselves for activities that get the children effectively committed to the care and protection of their environments. This directly corresponds with the Moana practices of Tā-Vā, the idea that to influence your choices in the present, you must look to the knowledge of the past in order to properly protect your future, hereby meaning that by teaching youth the knowledge we have of how to nourish and conserve our environment, they will ensure that their future generations thrive while the Earth provides for our global society, with the choices they make throughout their lives. The second; an educational mantra comprising of “The 6 R’s”, teaching children to both consider aspects of their behaviour themselves, and conduct their consuming behaviour in a less wasteful manner. This mantra consists of: Refusing what you don’t need; Reducing what you do need; Reuse anything that you can; Recycle the things you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse; Rehoming what you no longer need or want; And rotting/Composting the rest (Recycle NZ n.d., Mahina 2010). Even plastics are no longer the horrendous issue they were previously. Michael Biddle’s MBA Polymers (2011) is changing the way that society views recycling plastic, creating a sustainable and valuable commodity with compelling monetary benefit. They use a 30-step system to extract imperfections like metal, shredding and sorting the plastic, producing them into pellets easily reused in the industry. This encourages ‘Cradle to Cradle’ thinking, not just from designers themselves, but from society as a whole. If the global society invested in this, there would be a massive reduction of greenhouse gas emittance, as these processes consume “less than 20% of the energy needed to produce virgin (plastics) from petrochemicals” (2011). Globally, we are using approximately 250 billion kg’s of plastic annually and recycling less than 10% of this. Society needs to realise that plastics are far more valuable than steel (cost per weight value) and should therefore be conserved. We don’t need to manufacture more plastic, we already have so much, and if it can all be recycled and reused cheaply, without needing extra chemicals or minerals, why not invest?
An easy way to keep Recycle NZ’s mantra movement going is to get the children involved in communal production. It teaches the children to respect and tend the earth, so they can provide for themselves and their loved ones (Mahina, 2010). Putting vegetable gardens in schools has brought extremely positive responses from everyone involved, with 95% of children, 86% of administrators, and 84% of family members getting involved with the program in the providing schools (National Gardening Association, (2011). This also addresses a popular concern of Berg, Spek, Huttenmoser, Davis, and Bjorklid (as cited in Karsten, 2005) for the health of children living in contemporary cities particularly focused on the lack of open green spaces and pollution in their social environments. The effect this has had on children’s space-time behavior has been dramatic, with children being unable to play outside, due to the dangers of traffic, the pollution, and ‘stranger danger’, driving them inside the home (Karsten, 2005). Of the estimated 1.6 million youth that National Gardening Association has reached, nutritional and environmental attitude levels among youth have risen dramatically (96% and 93% respectively), with community spirit, social skills, and self-confidence levels also rising considerably (91%, 86%, and 85%).This highlights the idea developed by Moana (indigenous) cultures that everything involving nature, the mind, and global society, are eternally exchanging relations, boosting both conflict and order. Conflict in the sense that we are a rapidly expanding species that argues and consumes, but order in the way we do learn and develop, often along similar lines until forced otherwise and we are a very routinely orientated species, repeating similar actions until unable. By this logic, once society has established environmental sustainability, we will continue to strive to be more environmentally friendly, to create items that give back to the Earth, mimicking natures ‘Cradle to Cradle’ life plan. Youth learn by example (Karsten, 2005), when they observe society acting a certain way they will mimic. It therefore stands to reason that if the youth of today see the rest of society following these easily implemented schemes providing for the planet, preserving and protecting their carefully cultivated plots, they will mimic us, and think nothing of it. This method of societal mind change would only take about two generations to be fully effective, which thank to the University of Oxford (2015), is about how long we have until the globe reaches 2° of human caused climate change.
Faced with the fact that the environmental, ecological, and socio-cultural crises are so interconnected, it has now become ‘normal’ to think that reworking an item so it is rendered less environmentally harmful is a great step in the right direction, but rather inadequate in the grand scheme of things, and the more time passes, the more evident it’s becoming, not just to leaders in our global communities, but also to the everyman (Manzini, 1994). During history, two decisive changes, at the very least, in globally communal perspective have become necessary. The first concerned the global acceptance of the shift where the question of the environment was switched from a minor issue, to be dealt with at a later date, and given significance in the agenda of all members of our global society. However, the shift that must take place today, is the acknowledgment by all members of society that the environmental crisis is part of the much larger phenomenon that we ourselves have created with the previously dominant industrial development model that is only recently getting a rehaul (Manzini, 1994). We are currently living in what has been dubbed ‘a Knowledge Society’, where creativity, ideas and information collaboration have formed the grounding for our current development/innovation model (Thomas, 2010). Open-source knowledge will likely be the basis for our newly refined model of development/innovation. The aim is not to propose solutions for every problem, it is to find a new perspective on the world, a new way of behaving. Our development model will emerge from dialogue and conflict among a multiplicity of ideas, visions, and proposals due to different societies looking solely into their own histories, without branching out into our shared global past to pilot our decisions in the present. “It will come into being thanks to a widespread atmosphere of innovation involving all social actors.”(Mahina 2010, Manzini 1994, Thomas 2010).
With the public consideration of materiality and recyclability of our habitually consumed goods growing in fashion, and children around the world getting involved in communal and school-based gardens; learning self-sufficiency and consideration of their actions, it is only a matter of time before a complete societal mind switch occurs, where we have redesigned the way we consume and produce, becoming a society that looks at all the mistakes that we have procured in our short history, and implements what society has learned from these events, to protect, preserve, and provide for our communities, our families, and our Earth.
References: Biddle, M. (2011). MBA Polymers: Because sustainability matters. Retrieved from: http://www.mbapolymers.com/home/ Biddle, M. (2011). MBA Polymers: Because sustainability matters. Retrieved from: http://www.mbapolymers.com/home/our-company Karsten, L. (2005). It all used to be better? Different generations on continuity and change in urban children’s daily use of space, Children’s Geographies, 3:3, 275-290, DOI: 10.1080/14733280500352912 Mahina, H. O. (2010) Tā, Vā, and Moana: Temporality, spatiality, and Indigeneity. Pacific Studies, 33(2/3), 168-202. Manzini, E. (1994). Design, Environment and Social Quality: From “Existenzminimun” to “Quality Maximum”. Design Issues, 10, 37-43. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1511653/ Mayer, E., Deull, C., Kelson, R., McIntyre, G., Weinstein, J. (2015). About Evocative. Retrieved from: http://ecovativedesign.com/about/ McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2015). About MBDC. Retrieved from: http://www.mbdc.com/about-mbdc/overview/ McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2010). Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York, NY: North Point Press. National Gardening Association. (2011). About School Gardening. Retrieved from: http://www.kidsgardening.org/grants/about-school-gardening Oxford e-Research Centre. (2015). TrillionthTonne.org: Explaining the Need to Limit our Cumulative Emissions of Carbon Dioxide. Retrieved from: http://www.trillionthtonne.org/ EERST Paper4trees. (2012). Paper4trees: Carbon Reduction Program. Retrieved from: http://www.paper4trees.co.nz/ Recycle NZ. (n.d.). Why Recycle? Retrieved from: http://www.recycle.co.nz/problemsize.php Thomas. B. J. (2010). Development in Practice. Participation in the Knowledge Society: the Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) Movement Compared with Participatory Development. 20(2), 270-276. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27806693
Assignment 4
Introduction: Ideas to be discussed – providing for the planet, reducing the amount of waste we produce and recycling what we do, providing self-sustainable teaching, and redesigning the system, instead of making things fit into what we’ve got. Thesis Statement: The importance of the massive change needed in design culture and societal mentality to preserve, provide, and protect the environment for future generations.
Paragraph One: Designing to re-use, or bio-degrade Increased concern over material composition and biodegradability. Evidence: (Paraphrase from Ecovative Design’s About page) - Evocative biodegradable plastic uses a mycelium based adhesive called MycoBond to grow agricultural waste into a non-toxic packaging plastic and insulation for housing, which, at the end of their life may be safely used as garden mulch or compost. (Paraphrase from MBDC About page) - The McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry changed the way designers thought about their ideas, with this effectively providing a reliable method for companies to establish solutions concerning material reapplication, material composition, and renewable material and energy consumption. (Quote from MBDC About Page) – “helping clients go beyond minimizing harm and towards a wholly positive impact on the planet.”
Paragraph Two: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle Why? – Living in a cradle-to-grave lifestyle is completely non-sustainable. Evidence: (Paraphrase from Recycle New Zealand’s Why Recycle? page) - Clean paper and cardboard waste are simple to recycle and ensures fewer trees are consumed needlessly. Glass, aluminum and steel are the most straightforward to recycle, as they return as they were first produced, without any new mineral additives. (Paraphrase from MBA Polymer website) – MBA Polymers is changing the way that society views recycling plastic, creating a sustainable and valuable commodity with compelling monetary benefit. Using a 30-step system to extract imperfections like metal, shredding and sorting the plastic, producing them into pellets easily reused in the industry, all while using under a tenth of the energy required to produce virgin plastics directly from crude oil.
Paragraph Three: Educating younger generations on self-sustainability Teaching kids to grow their own food benefits the entire community. (Connects to Tā-Vā – connection to the earth and connection to community). Evidence: (Slideshow from Kids Gardening: About School Gardening page) – Of the children who got involved in the school gardening, 95% responded positively to the program, with administrators and family members also showing 86% and 84% responding positively respectively. (Slideshow from Kids Gardening: About School Gardening page) – Of the estimated 1.6 million youth that National Gardening Association has reached, nutritional and environmental attitude levels among youth have risen dramatically (96% and 93% respectively), with community spirit, social skills, and self-confidence levels also rising considerably (91%, 86%, and 85%).
Paragraph Four: Redesigning instead of reworking (Paraphrase from Manzini, 1994 p.38) - Faced with the fact that the environmental, ecological, and socio-cultural crises are so interconnected, it has now become ‘normal’ to think that reworking an item so it is rendered less environmentally harmful is a great step in the right direction, but inadequate in the grand scheme of things, and the more time passes, the more evident it’s becoming. Evidence: (Paraphrase from Manzini, 1994 p.37) - During history, at the very least, two decisive changes in perspective have become necessary. The first concerned the formal acknowledgment of the shift where the question of the environment was switched from a minority critique, and made a part of the agenda of all members of society. The shift that must take place today, is the acknowledgment that the environmental crisis is part of the much larger phenomenon that we ourselves have created with the previously dominant development model that is only recently getting a rehaul. (Paraphrase from Manzini, 1994 p.39) - Open-source knowledge will likely be the basis for our new model of development. The aim is not to propose solutions for every problem, it is to find a new perspective on the world, a new way of behaving. (Quote from Manzini, 1994 p.39) – “…it will emerge from dialogue and conflict among a multiplicity of ideas, visions, and proposals. It will come into being thanks to a widespread atmosphere of innovation involving all social actors.” (Relate to Tā-Vā – “that all things, in nature, mind, and society, stand in eternal relations of exchange, giving rise to conflict or order.”)
Conclusion: The reusability, biodegradability, and recyclability of an item is something that every consumer should be considering, as cradle-to-cradle design is the solution to mankind’s manifestation of nature. Teaching youth to produce and sustain for themselves is the best possible starting point society can make into switching mentalities from a re-working culture, into a re-designed society that protects, preserves, and provides for our planet.
References: Biddle, M. (2011). MBA Polymers: Because sustainability matters. Retrieved from: http://www.mbapolymers.com/home/ Mahina, H. O. (2010) Ta, Va, and Moana: Temporality, spatiality, and Indigeneity. Pacific Studies, 33(2/3), 168-202. Manzini, E. (1994). Design, Environment and Social Quality: From “Existenzminimun” to “Quality Maximum”. Design Issues, 10, 37-43. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1511653/ Mayer, E., Deull, C., Kelson, R., McIntyre, G., Weinstein, J. (2015). About Evocative. Retrieved from: http://ecovativedesign.com/about/ McDonough, W., Braungart, M. (2015). About MBDC. Retrieved from: http://www.mbdc.com/about-mbdc/overview/ National Gardening Association. (2011). About School Gardening. Retrieved from: http://www.kidsgardening.org/grants/about-school-gardening Recycle.co.nz. (n.d.). Why Recycle? Retrieved from: http://www.recycle.co.nz/problemsize.php
Assignment 3
Even a brief look at the state of the world and you reach the conclusion that the Earth is full. Our stuff has filled the cracks and it’s overflowing. The heightened desire in the public eye to grow both the economy and the environment, sparked this paper into addressing the method in which we choose to teach our minds, our youth, and our society (Mahina, 2010). Identifying the roots of design evolution before the industrial age ensued and incorporating these thinking practices into modern, eco-friendly design practices (Orr, 2002) pushed this study to bring light to the importance of accepting and fixing, if not testing and limiting in development, the consequences and side effects of design evolution (Orr, 2002) and how crucial it is to inspire understanding and development in the First-World mind for the preservation of Earth as we have come accustomed to living in. To highlight how both economical, and environmentally friendly design teachings and practices are critical to future survival, this research will begin to identify the critical switch needed in the thinking practices of modern technological education (Manzini, 1994) connecting the Moana (Pacific) thinking strategies of vā (space) and ta-vā (space and time) to modern economic growth. In particular, this paper will showcase the efforts of Angela Belcher, and her use of shell cells to help solve part of our energy crisis, also touching on Fletcher and Goggin’s standpoint on the shift in developmental thinking from environmentally-friendly design, to a rethink of the entire system. The collective agreement from every standpoint is that the Earth is full, that we now need a collective change, and this paper hopes to nudge the design community into providing for this planet that has provided for us.
“Giving life to non-living structures.” It’s a phrase that is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality, and that’s what Angela Belcher is achieving with her Abalone shell battery, manipulating the virus’s and teaching them how to essentially ‘do their thing’ with semiconductors and materials for batteries, and the virus learns how to make this programmed structure better and better until it is the best it can be with its provided host (Belcher, 2011). It’s this kind of thinking that Fletcher and Goggin have been trying to promote: a change in the “social, cultural, and economic processes” that influence so heavily our changing environment. Their paper focuses more on consumerist habit, and the underrepresentation of environmental implications of such habit, also highlighting the factor of cost, as this is an interesting one that shouldn’t be forgotten, e.g. if the consumer finds it too cheap or ‘inferior’ they are not going to even consider the product, generally, but if the product is overly expensive, even if it is amazingly environmentally-friendly, they will also not consider because it is miles out of their price range, despite the fact that they do more washing, more often than those who can easily afford the environmentally friendly machines (Fletcher, 2001). No one’s saying that people aren’t trying to fix the environmental crisis. New policies have been made a part of corporate programming, increasing the demand for environmental quality in most products over the years, the problem being, it’s not happening fast enough, or to a high enough extent (Manzini, 1994), with a re-haul in the design of the social, cultural, and economic processes that are filling our world.
References: Belcher, A (Speaker). (2011). Using Nature to Grow Batteries [Video File]. Ted Talks. Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_belcher_using_nature_to_grow_batteries Fletcher, K. T., Goggin, P. A. (2001). The Dominant Stances on Ecodesign: A Critique. Design Issues, 17(3), 15-25. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1511797/ Mahina, H. O. (2010). Ta, Va, and Moana: Temporality, spatiality, and Indigeneity. Pacific Studies, 33(2/3), 168-202. Manzini, E. (1994). Design, Environment and Social Quality: From “Existenzminimun” to “Quality Maximum”. Design Issues, 10, 37-43. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1511653/ Orr, D. W. (2006). The Nature of Design Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention. Design Issues, 22(2), 89-91. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25224051/