Responsible use of materials

“The business community does not have enough respect for designers. They are currently at the bottom of the management food chain. Marketing tells them what to do. That doesn't make any sense.

Designers hold a key to the future, but designers need to understand their role differently and learn to have more self-esteem, ambition and responsibility.”

Dr. Michael Braungart

There are a myriad of resources available to help designers better understand how to be innovative in seeking to design buildings which reduce their own impact on the environment. I was recently alerted to this blog; www.core77.com/blog/articles

and checked out this article where Dr Braungart discusses “Material Shortages and Designing a New Material World”.

Dr. Michael Braungart is a chemist and co-founder of Cradle to Cradle® Design and MBDC McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry in Charlottesville, Virginia. His research in materials sciences has pioneered a new paradigm that focuses on redesigning eco-effective products and systems to support a positive ecological footprint in the next industrial revolution.

According to Dr Braungart, “designers must learn to expand their interests and responsibility beyond just aesthetics. I see it slowly happening. For example, in Japan, the designer truly understands the link between total quality and total beauty. It's not beautiful if it is connected to child labour. It's not beautiful if it poisons the oceans. It's not beautiful if it perpetuates conflicts over precious resources. It's not about only the right materials. There is also a social component. Clearly, there is an opportunity for designers to become pivotal players in the industrial transformation, adding immense strategic value.”

While he is not talking specifically about building designers, I think there certainly is a lesson for us all here.

You can check out the entire article and more at the blog address above. There are some great insights into materials and how we, as designers, can accept our social and environmental responsibilities by considering the source, use and disposal of materials.

Russell Brandon