Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or (Upcycle) 2

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 2

For our Sustainability project, which is the follow on from the smaller book making and power point brief, we have been asked to renovate and use our “upcycling” knowledge within a current building. The distressed building can be found situated on Seafield Road in Dundee and is the “supposed” living space of our real life client who will work and live in this newly remodeled home. As a book conservator she requires enough space for both her living space and studio within and since meeting her and discussing what she wants the space to obtain is proving to be a challenge.

The main purpose to this brief is for us designers to become aware when designing, that the need to be more environmentally friendly is of great demand. From researching into “Green Design” for the previous brief you begin to understand that the little ways of going about “Reducing, Reusing and Recycling” can be of great benefit in the future.

We have had several power points and lectures based on sustainability. Ranging from the technical side of things down to new and up and coming materials. Richard Atkins who is an environmental architect was a guest speaker a few weeks ago and he spoke about the company he works for and their past and previous projects.

This links in well with the Eco-build conference, that took place on Tuesday 2^nd of March down in Earls court in London. A group of us Interior Designers took this long trip down to attend this four-day event that was of great use to this project. The event consisted of many companies advertising their products and designs that were sustainable or eco friendly. From listening to speakers at the event the main problem to do with this is that the many displays were promoting their eco friendliness, when in fact their products weren’t good for the environment as they give out toxins.

Coming away from this event I have realized that it does take a lot of time, energy and money to achieve an eco way of designing. So by keeping this in mind I will try my best when doing the same for this project, to try and work with what you have and going about it the right way.

Co2 Admission

Another project that has caught my attention is the Co2 Cubes by Alfio Bonanno and Christopher Cornubert.

The idea behind their design is a great concept that should send out a strong message and encourage people to think about the matter concerned, which is reducing their co2 admission.

This is another design that is trying to take the role of sustainability and encourage people to create a better life style that will hopefully make a difference to the change in climate and environment in years to come.

The issue of Sustainability has been one that has recently taken headline in most areas of design and is soon to be even bolder, however is this the way to encourage people to take action? By showing them the equivalent to their carbon footprint or should we as designers show people the real destruction they are causing in order to create a response that will lead to doing something about the problem.

What Bonanno and Cornubert have tried to do is represent the monthly carbon footprint of the average person or the amount produced by a person from the us in two weeks. The cube measures 27’ x 27’ x 27’and is a representation of one metric ton of carbon dioxide. The cube has been designed so that it can incorporate video streams; real-time information and solutions that will help slow down climate change. It should broadcast this information at the gathering that will take place in Copenhagen next month at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

This is a small way to broadcast the matter of climate change that will hopefully make a difference in the way people think and act. Visually the cube will create more of an impact, which is why the idea should be a success.

This also brings me back to a lecture we had about sustainability and how designers have tried to create products that can function using different forms of energy replacing oil. A company called “Bed Zed”believes we can make a change in our lifestyle through carbon-friendly homes however this process doesn't happen over night, there's a lot of compromising to do to get it to this stage. I do believe though that if we do all have this attitude and increase the awareness of climate change then there will be more things done to achieve the result we want.