design: sustainable futures

on march 7, industrial designers, professors, architects, and startup founders met virtually to share use cases on designing for alternative economies.

in a two-part series by designto, sustainable futures reviews contemporary issues, research, and creation from the perspectives of 'do it yourself' and 'circular systems' to achieve the above at scale.

following are participant highlights.

conducting speculative design, a practice of forming an image around a future scenario, is a means of questioning prevailing agendas in commerce and stimulating debate with the help of a visible reference point.
—industrial designer and public artist, khalil jamal

bringing people together to teach and learn lost skills, like mending and repairing, is a way of performing quiet activism in opposition to rampant consumption while building self-agency.
—textile designer and lecturer, anna schlimm

taking material creations into public spaces and letting others add to it can activate others to get involved in an issue because art has a way of visualizing what's intangible to most people.
—multidisciplinary artist and gardener, melanie billark

partnering with spacious, high-traffic spaces like malls make it possible to gather frequently discarded materials and create products to sell to the public. designing on-site can drive awareness to passersby and local residents to get involved.
—industrial designer and founder, renee lee

adapting construction waste like metal and glass and preserving organic material like stone and wood from demolition projects to furnish public spaces. creating a network of shipping operators, recycling facilities, material makers, and governments can scale this practice beyond one community.
—architect and creative director, anna horváth

solving the plastic waste situation may not be as simple as not using the material. plastic is durable, long lasting, low cost, and easy to produce. instead, we can eliminate the use of non-recyclable plastic, minimize the practice of single use, and view end-of-use plastic as a resource.
—industrial design researcher, tnachon benjapipatkul

reference:
https://designto.org/event/sustainable-futures-part-1-diy/

https://designto.org/event/sustainable-futures-part-2-
circular-systems/