The brief was to create a photo essay set in the city, accompanied by a haiku and soundtrack. This had to be inspired by one of the readings set for the class - I picked the reading about flaneurs (people who ‘saunter around observing society’).
An important aspect of being a flaneur is the desire to experience a city in a new and potentially unexpected way.
In this essay, I hoped to make people question how they view the city in their day-to-day lives – are they drawn to the odd details that punctuate the urban space around them, or do they only see what they need to see?
During this paper, I had to write a manifesto about my design ideals, and then design a creative manifestation of these ideas.
My manifesto covered the need for designers to be less stubborn and to be more open minded about how they design and who they design for. [read the whole manifesto here]
The class’ manifestations were showcased for a week in one of the studios so I wanted mine to be interactive and to encourage open mindedness. This resulted in a tree-like structure where people could hang up their opinions, but only if they took someone else's opinion with them. [see more of this project]
The creative manifestation of my manifesto on open-mindedness is made to encourage people to be more open-minded by opening them to another person’s way of thinking. The user is given the opportunity to give their opinion on a topic but can only hang up their paper if they take someone else’s opinion away them. This paper also doubles as promotional material and has a quote about open-mindedness on one side.
Some initial iterations of the form for people to hang their opinions on. I chose wire for these sketch models as I wanted the form to be reasonably minimal - it shouldn’t be the focus point of the design.
Some sketching and brainstorming for the creative manifestation of project four.
Through my manifestation I want to encourage people to be more open-minded. I want this to be interactive and to involve a number of people, so my initial plan is for an installation that allows people to share their opinions on a topic, but only if they look at someone else’s opinion too. This anonymous swapping of thoughts gives people the chance to articulate what they think while also opening them up to the opinions of others.
In a world where people often think you have to be stubborn and aggressively focused to achieve your goals, we should redefine the way we approach problems and success. If our aims are for a linear, short term form of success, then the current approach of stubbornness is fine- but I think that the benefits of working this way are minimal. Design should be focused on people but if designers are stubborn there can be the tendency for their designs to be selfish. If design is more open-minded then it gives designers and the world the freedom to learn and grow without the fear of failure or judgement.
Be open-minded about your skills and knowledge. It is okay not to know everything- nobody does. You will save a lot of time and your designs will be more resolved if you admit when you're in too deep and ask for advice. Design has the ability to influence people so it is irresponsible as a designer to design without getting to know the full picture first.
Be open-minded about your approach to designing There's always a different way to think about what you're designing, who you're designing for, and how your design is received. Every situation is different so your approach to designing for these situations will need to be different.
Be open-minded about opinions - both yours and others. Accept criticism and compliments, but also take both with a grain of salt. Never get too comfortable with what you think and try to understand why others may think differently.
Be open-minded about people. People can be unpredictable and they may not interact with your design in the way you think they should. There is nothing wrong with this and you should embrace the variety that the world throws at you.
Be open-minded about new things. Your design will never be truly innovative if you don't challenge your current way of thinking and doing.
Sources:
Spiegel, J. S. (2012). Open-mindedness and intellectual humility. Theory and Research in Education, 10(1), 27–38. http://doi.org/10.1177/1477878512437472
Marinucci, R. (2011, December). Effectively Responding to Critics. Fire Engineering, 164(12), 24–25.
Thesis statement - Design should ideally look to not just minimise waste production, but to eliminate it entirely.
Source 1 - McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2010). Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. Macmillan.
This book by McDonough and Braungart looks at, and questions, the accepted way which we approach production and the environment. It tracks the beginning of mass production (the Industrial Revolution) and how this desire to produce so much has lead us to believe the only way to reduce our impact on the environment is to limit all the things we do and create. The authors believe that this is not necessarily the best approach - other species produce a lot too, but their productivity often doesn't have a negative impact on their surroundings. This source is relevant to my research as it offers an interesting perspective of looking to nature to inspire solutions for waste production.
Source 2 - Anastas, P. T., & Zimmerman, J. B. (2003). Peer Reviewed: Design Through the 12 Principles of Green Engineering. Environmental Science & Technology, 37(5), 94A–101A. http://doi.org/10.1021/es032373g
Anastas' and Zimmerman's article, 'Design Through the 12 Principles of Green Engineering', discusses a number of points regarding the environment and the design cycle. They have focused quite a bit on processes and how all parts of the process of producing something need to be considered in terms of waste production. Something may claim to be 'environmentally friendly' but if the process of creating it produces waste then the claim is not very accurate. They also look at how long products last for vs. how long their materials last for, and this insight on material choice in relation to waste will be a useful addition to my essay.
Source 3 - Porritt, J. (2007). Capitalism as If the World Matters. Earthscan.
Porritt's book, 'Capitalism as If the World Matters', has (as suggested in the title) a focus on the effects of capitalism on the environment and how we manage waste production. Porritt argues that "It's clear that there remains a big problem in the way in which we frame this whole question of waste and resource management" - we are fixated on recycling without considering other solutions. Porritt also interestingly compares economies to ecosystems - they both take in energy and materials and transform them into products. This is another take on how to base waste production solutions off what already exists in nature, and so will be useful in my research.
An important aspect of being a flaneur is the desire to experience a city in a new and potentially unexpected way. In this photo essay, I aimed to take photos of Wellington’s urban spaces that showed off parts of the city that seemed out of place – and that you might not have noticed if you weren’t looking for them. This is because these odd, almost surreal aspects are often small, so don’t overpower their more standard surroundings. Guy (2007) believes that "anti-septic, controlled urban environments do not provide the excitement many urbanites desire, and yet a restless and uncontrolled cityscape produces much more unsavory sensorial experiences." The moments of interest that I have tried to capture in my photo essay are an important part of creating this balance between functional and interesting in a city – while some of these spaces can be seen as ‘useless’ because of their lack of function, they play a vital part in adding to a city’s overall character. Guy (2007) is of the opinion that it is the contrast between these two sides of a city that makes wandering through it a unique and worthwhile experience. Through this photo essay, I hope to make people question how they view the city in their day-to-day lives – are they drawn to the odd details that punctuate the urban space around them, or do they only see what they need to see?
Guy, S. (2007). Discipline and disruption: making senses of the city. The Senses and Society, 2(2), 247+.
