Dear Mark,
It is so noble that you worry about the world and the re-use of
artifacts. I bet that many designers are like you. They use their own
resources to save the world and make it a better place for living.
As a design programmer, I both appreciate the citizen activism and
integrity of designers, and feel pain that the society had left them
on their own. The problems you say can be resolved by designers, BUT
only if society supports them with resources and power. (I will talk
here predominantly at built environment scale.)
If the issue of reuse is codified in the design program, if it
becomes a requirement, and if the production budget supports designs
that consider this requirement, the world will be a different place.
I feel that designers are left on their own. They have to cope with
the small amount of resources they are given by society (client if
you want). In such situations, it is obvious that my poor colleagues
will consider and respond to what is explicitly requested and paid for.
My problem is how we as a community can find a way to educate our
clients about what is important for them and what they need to pay
for. May be my formulation is not perfect and that task has to be
rethought and reconsidered, but at least the direction is right.
Designers should have social responsibility, but when clients do not
have social responsibility, designers can not do much, even if they
have adequate methodology, talent, and motivation. In fact, designers
have much more of these, than society needs and deserves. I wrote
that to Mr. Nussbaum in his blog in response to his controversial
commencement speech.
The problem with re-use is not a design process problem because
designers can solve it. This problem is a societal problem, a problem
that emerges in circles outside the design community and industry.
Let's look for the solution of this issue outside the design
community, in the framework of the social reproduction of material
world. I mean the meta-levels of facility (or product) development/procurement.
There is a lot more to say, but I appreciate your time.
Best,
Lubomir
At 12:46 AM 8/29/2007, Mark Richardson wrote:
>Thanks Terry,
>
>It would be interesting to know of some of the pitfalls of the
>re-design and re-use systems discovered in past research. It makes
>me wonder why it has not been successfully integrated into design
>methodology as a sophisticated, broad scale infrastructure. Is it
>because we, as designers, are too concerned with 'newness' and the
>exploration of virgin territory, or that our social environmental
>consciousness has not had enough momentum to drive the acceptance of
>used components. Or is it simply that technology has not been
>available to support an effective used-parts infrastructure? I
>suspect it's probable all of the above.
>
>Cheers,
>Mark
>
>Terence wrote:
>>Dear Mark,
>>There was a tremendous amount of work done in this area by members of the
>>ECO2-IRN group based at Cranfield during the 1990s (see
>>http://www.mcaloone.com/environment/eco2/intro.htm ) Some of the members of
>>that group are members of this list. My guess is it is still available. Tim
>>MacAloone and Tracy Bhamra were key contacts.
>>Best, Terry
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
>>research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark
>>Richardson
>>Sent: Tuesday, 28 August 2007 10:55 AM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: Redesign
>>
>>Dear Francois,
>>
>>I think a comprehensive literature search and review in the area of
>>component and material reuse would be highly beneficial. I (along with a
>>number of other researchers I know) would be keen to develop such a list.
>>I'd also be keen to know how many other design researchers on the PhD design
>>list are already looking into this area. It would be good to to take the
>>theory and begin to fashion it into a collaborative infrastructure of design
>>practice.
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Mark Richardson
>>
>>
>>
>>Francois-Xavier Nsenga <[log in to unmask]> wrote:> Dear Mark,
>>
>>Thank you for sharing the information! It really feels good to see more and
>>more likeminded people around!
>>
>>I have just sent off-list a note to Stella (one of the previous posts)
>>suggesting to form a team that would look into the possibility of a
>>compilation and annotation of available literature on information from users
>>to designers...
>>
>>Would you also be interested to join in?
>>
>>I am very much interested to have a look into your 'redesign' project, and
>>please forward a copy to me after your paper is delivered at the IASDR 07
>>conference.
>>
>>
>>Kind regards!
>>
>>
>>Francois
>>--
>>Transport Design Coordinator / Ph.D. candidate Monash University Faculty of
>>Art & Design Department of Design, Industrial Design 900 Dandenong Rd
>>Caulfield East 3145 Victoria, Australia
>>
>>Ph: +61 3 9903 1859
>>Mob: 0425 726 011
>>
>
>
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