Two Realms, One World

The separation of “art” and “design” seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon. Over the past fifty years, the separation of these two ideas has become more and more prominent. Why? Was it the industrial revolution that created a dividing line, by separating mass-production, limited-production, and “craft”? Before the revolution, fine art i.e. painting, sculpture, printing, and design, or invention were intertwined. Da Vinci is a great example of how one could combine fanciful images and ideas with practical and invented objects. However, until very recently, these two realms of the visual world were starting to be torn apart.

I think that this trend is becoming reexamined by many new artists/designers. People are again beginning to blur the line between these two modes of thinking and creating works that fit into both. One person who was addressed in class was Max Lamb. Max has done a number of projects which look at the way we view materials and processes. In one project, Max created a chair made of poured pewter in a sandbox, where he “performed” the creation of the chair in front of an audience.


In some ways, I think this has value, in that it reexamines the context of an object and its relation with its user and that a performance style, which has up until this point been in the realm of art, can be used as a method for connecting with and illustrating the making of a practical object. However, in the same breath, I hesitate to commend this method, because, especially in this case, little thought is given to the impact of materials (pewter is not a great material to be in contact with for long periods of time) and many of the pragmatic issues which are engrained in certain objects, such as ergonomics in a chair, are ignored.

Another interesting example of reexamining the context of art and design which we briefly looked at was the Studio Libertiny Paper Vases.

This series of vases brings to light an interesting juxtaposition of reused materials and conventional craft methods to create an object which retains a "ghost" image of a former physical form within its new form. Other projects from Studio Libertiny, like the honeycomb vase, also address the reexamination of creation and its role in our live and the lives of everything around us.

In this project, the vases are created by placing a basic beeswax mould printed with a honeycomb pattern into a beehive. The bees then do the rest. It takes 40,000 bees a week to make each vase, each of which is completely different. The vases also vary in colour and smell depending on the flowers that are in season. Within the boundaries of a conventional vase design this project defies mass production and enables nature to create what would typically be considered a man-made product.

I think now is an interesting period in which society will begin to rethink the place of design and art in our culture and how both can be blended in a way which can open up new methods of thinking and new, more relevant methods of production and creation.

System Solution

While volunteering at the A Better World by Design conference, I was exposed to many different perspectives and approaches to solving the big issues which are facing our current generation. One thing, however, which seemed to connect all these different ideas, was the imperative need for us as designers, and human beings, to look at these problems holistically. These problems are often quite complex, and need to be addressed systemically. That is not to say that all solutions need to be complex, or solve all the problems at hand, because that, I am convinced, is impossible. Instead, the point was raised that we need to truly understand all the impacts of our ideas and how they can or cannot be utilized in different ways, and to different degrees.

One workshop which intrigued me in its outlook on the ideas of systemic applications was the solar cooker workshop. Virginio Mendonça & Eric Fedus showed how the solar cooker works. It is a relatively simple idea: you make an area which uses reflective material to focus sunlight onto a focal point, and this area heats up to high enough temperatures to cook food on. Below is an example of a very simple version of the solar cooker:

This version simply utilizes a cardboard with reflective Mylar, along with calculated angles of reflectivity, to heat cooking pots upto 130 degrees Celsius. However, as the two speakers explained, this technology need not be limited to cooking. Utlizing solar energy in this manner can be used to dry foods:

or distill potable water from unsanitary ground water sources:

Virginio and Eric then continued to explain how this technology can then be applied to an even bigger scope of applications, such as microconcentrators, which heat water that can then be used as a medium for heating houses and other spaces:

They also explained how this technology can also be expanded in scale. Many places in India have adopted parabolic solar condensers in large cooking centers. These parabolic solar cookers are used to heat pipes with water in them, turning it into steam. This steam is then used to cook up to 30,000 meals a day.

All of these applications evolved from the same principle. They all solve very different issues, but in a way which can be implemented systemically. It is our opportunity as designers to explore new ways to utilize newly found technologies, but also to re-explore old technologies from a different perspective and find innovative ways to create comprehensive and holistic solutions.

Design for humanity

As occurrences of crises, political, ecological, or socio-economical, around the world and the realities of living in those situations have become more apparent to the world, so has the awareness of the need for humanitarian design. The nature of these crises and the scope of the problems of addressing real and basic human needs are extensive, and up until this point in history the implementation of relief solutions has not been extensively considered. The problems which humanitarian actions address are often extremely complex, and so the design solutions which must be achieved must be heavily weighed and examined. Solutions need to address boundaries of culture, economic hierarchy, and politics, as well as incorporate appropriate design philosophies. Many people, including myself, often find themselves overwhelmed by the problems which our world faces on a daily basis. We question what our role in all of this is and how we can help make a difference. It is daunting, but I believe not impossible, for us as designers to make a positive impact in these crucial issues.

During Dr. Becker’s lecture about his experiences in Africa working in a refugee camp and our discussion about the necessities of disaster relief housing, I found myself thinking what kind of direction I as a western cultured, American design student could follow to help those in need in Africa and other places with different cultures. Justin DeSilva asked whether or not it is possible for us to design beyond cultural and social barriers to create solutions which truly embrace their audience. I believe that it is possible, but that it takes a lot of dedication, diverse knowledge, and research into the situation which those whom you are designing are involved. Also, I think that the scope of the issue is a very important factor. Designing a hand-held product is very different from designing a systemic medical assistance infrastructure, for instance.

There are several examples of how western designers have created design solutions which, in many ways, transcend cultural boundaries as well as provide a very positive solution to the problem. One of the most well known is Vestergaard-Frandsen’s LifeStraw®.

The LifeStraw® is a personal water purification and filtration product which allows users to drink from otherwise disease-ridden water sources. The straw uses three different filtration systems, halogenated resin, anion exchange resin, and granular activated, silver-impregnated, carbon, to filter out diarrhea-causing bacteria, microbes, and viruses. The straw is easy to use and provides economical accessibility to sustainable drinking water sources in places which usually have none. This product has been embraced by many different cultures because of its effectiveness and simple design.

I think that situations of displaced persons from political and/or natural crises are of great importance in the field of humanitarian design. That is why I am currently working on designing refugee camp housing for Darfur, Sudan, and trying to incorporate energy harnessing smart materials, to generate the energy needed for everyday usage and emergency medical care. There are many issues which I need to research and consider, but I am confident that the project will help inform my design perspective and potentially lead to greater impact in the future, through implemenetation.

Designed Meaning

Design is often a veiled part of our society. It is everywhere; it is in the cups we drink out of, in the buildings we live and work in, in the signs that we see, and even in the streets we walk on. The realm of design is almost all-encompassing, and yet, at the same time, is almost nonexistent. In many ways, the design of our world has become ingrained into our social and cultural consciousness, to a point where most people don’t even realize that almost everything that they interact with on a daily basis has, at one point or another, been thought about and considered by another human who wished to bring it to fruition.

There are, of course, many objects, environments, and interactions which most of us view as being “designed.” Many people are drawn to certain products, such as the ipod, BMW, and Wii, to name a few, because of these recognized designed qualities, their “aesthetic meaning.” This meaning is more subjective and personal, and often deals with individual perceptions of beauty or hierarchy. This sense of meaning in design can frequently grow into a deeper, and more socially relevant form of “cultural meaning”, but the two are not always related.

While reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell recently, I became aware of a good example of how aesthetic or personal meaning does not always lead to cultural meaning and, in this case, how sometimes it is the opposite. In his book, Gladwell talks about the development of the Aeron chair, designed by Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf, and sold by Herman Miller.

Gladwell describes the extraordinary amount of research and development which was used for the design of the chair. Bill Stumpf was chosen to be on the design team because of his expertise in ergonomics and studies into orthopedic and vascular medicine at the University of Wisconsin and the design of the chair incorporates this knowledge heavily. Through careful considerations, the design of the chair departed from the traditional upholstered, by incorporating a stretched, flexible mesh surface, and multiple modular extensions. These elements were tested and incorporated to provide a multifunctional office chair which truly addressed the issues of ergonomics and the physical realities of sitting for extended periods of time. However, when Herman Miller was preparing the chair for production and sale, they made sure to do some consumer testing before releasing the chair into the general public, and what they found in these tests was disheartening. People did not like how it looked. They said that it didn’t look comfortable, and that its form felt unnatural for an office chair. Despite the consumer tests, Herman Miller released the chair in 1994, and it has now become one of the best selling office chairs to date and is collectively held in public view as being a symbol of comfort and style. This is its cultural meaning. However, initially people were opposed to its aesthetic meaning, which I believe can be contributed to the fact that this design was using materials and techniques in a new and innovative way which departed from the cultural perception of office chairs at the time. In their own way, the Aeron Chair and the designers who created it have created a new aesthetic and cultural meaning for office chairs and chair ergonomics.

I believe that the intrinsic meaning and value which we as humans perceive in products and environments is an idea which designers have an opportunity to control in many ways. It is a very important aspect of being a designer to take into account the total reality of a product, environment, or interaction. However, as much as we as designers can do to control the meaning of these things, the end result of “cultural meaning” is something which grows over time, and which is affected by many different and unforeseen factors.