1. How Humans Have Impacted the Planet
capitalism, extraction, global economies, logistics, object-oriented ontologyAlain de Botton, The Pleasures & Sorrows of Work, 2010
Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, 2015 (PDF here)
Jennifer Baichwel et al, Anthropocene: the Human Epoch, 2019, film (on Kanopy)
Ian Chillag and Jennifer Mills, Everything is Alive Podcast, 2018-19
Timothy Morton, Hyperobjects for Artists: a Reader
Okala Practitioner, Life Cycle Assessment PDF
01: Using the tactic of materials tracing and speculative design, imagine the lifecycle of one transitory/durational object that occupies your life. Refer to the LCA tool provided. Use research & poetic license to write a paragraph imagining the lifecycle. Assemble text + image for presentation in a format of your choosing: collage, video, print, poetry, etc. For inspiration, see ‘Hyperobjects for Artists’ and Alain de Botton’s chapter on Logistics.
2. Sustainable Frameworks, Tools & Strategies
interdependence, design ethics, social equity, systems thinking, scientific inquiryWhat is a framework?
A perspective on sustainability that organizes our thinking.Designers Accord: Sustainability in 7 – Watch Video interviews with William McDonough, Nathan Shedroff, John Thackera, Janine Benyus.
Find more here: The Hannover Principles, Cradle to Cradle, Circular Design Guide
Edwin Datschefski, The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products, 2001 (see 5 principles)
What is a tool?
A mechanism to measure or evaluate sustainable impacts.LCA, I=PAT, Footprint, Biomimicry, Social Return on Investment (SROI)
What is a strategy?
A design approach to lessen the negative impacts.Nathan Shedroff, Design is the Problem, 2009: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Restore
02A: Prepare a deck presentation (~10 slides with visuals) on your selected framework, tool and/or strategy. Identify authors, milieu, and key concepts. Illustrate method, noting strengths and weaknesses.
3. Material Studies
bio-based/degradable, up/recycling, second life, sourcing materialsBullfrog Films, Addicted to Plastics, 2008
Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World, 1972
Center for Sustainable Design Strategies, CSDS
Material Connexions (visit, self-guided)
Sims Municipal Recycling Center
Parsons Healthy Materials Lab, Trace Materials Podcast
United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21, Sustainable Development Goals, 2015
Green Art Lab Alliance, Future Materials Bank
03: Select a product, object, or service and (re)design/rethink the packaging and/or product. In the proposal, please identify your values and goals that you hope to achieve in the project outcome. These should lead to a series of social, environmental, usability and afterlife questions. Together, and with resources available online and at Pratt, we will determine the appropriate tools to research these question(s).
The final design may be presented as a digital model with reference to specific material sourcing and/or physically constructed. We will consider the life cycle for the package/object, as well as human and environmental impact, energy use, etc. The visual presentation will be accompanied by a report summarizing the sustainability of the product using the framework, strategies and tools that address your stated values and goals for the project.
4. Innovation, Environmental Activism
transformation, critical and speculative design, social practice, indigenous knowledgeThe Anthropocene Curriculum, initiated by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, 2013
Dunne, Anthony & Fiona Raby, “Chapter 3: Design as Critique,” Speculative Everything, 2013
Anab Jain on ‘More-than human centered design’ and design studio, Superflux
Extinction Rebellion and its design artifacts
Donna Haraway, Symbiogenesis, Sympoiesis, & Art Science Activisms for Staying with the Trouble
Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance,” on Emergence Magazine, 2020.
Robin Nagle, TED Talk: What I Learned in NYC Trash, 2013
UC San Diego Design Lab, Redesigning the Social Psyche: Climate Crisis and the Arts, 2020
Delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, Principles of Environmental Justice, 1991
04: Propose what you consider to be a radical, speculative and/or activist response to the current environmental crisis. Proposals may be experimental in form (e.g. play with new methods such as mycelium packaging, bioplastics, algae ink, etc.) OR conceptual, ie. not realized, but well presented (for instance, how might we move towards dematerialization in packaging? how might packaging be designed to provoke an intervention? etc.)
Additional Sources:
_AskNature, online resource for biomimicry strategies and ideas_Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962 (Part 1, in The New Yorker)
_Circular City Week, NYC, March 16-22nd, Circular Economy, Events & Activities
_Kelly Cobb, The 100 Mile Suit Project, 2014
_Kris De Decker, How Sustainable is a Solar-Powered Website?, Low Tech Magazine, 2020
_Earth Day Live, Online Event
_Jarrett Fuller, Graphic Design Readings, Recommended List
_Guacamole Airplane Packaging Supplier Guide, sustainable packaging supplier database
_Donna Haraway, Symbiogenesis, Sympoiesis, and Art Science Activisms for Staying with the Trouble, 2016
_Robert MacFarlane, “Generation Anthropocene: How humans have altered the planet forever.” The Guardian, 2016
_Christien Meindertsma, PIG 05049, 2007, online portfolio
_Andrew Morgan, The True Cost, 2015, film
_Timothy Morton, HYPEROBJECTS: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, 2013
_Kelsey Nagy, Plastics Saturates Us, Inside and Out, Feral Atlas, 2015
_Plastic Wars, PBS Frontline, 2020, film
_Christopher Simmons, Just Design: Socially Conscious Design for Critical Causes, 2011
_Katie Treggiden, Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure
_USDAC, Artists Unite for a Green New Deal
_Agnes Varda, The Gleaners and I, film on Kanopy
_Okala Practitioner: Ecological Design, online resource
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