ECOLOGY - Is the scientific study of the relationships that living organisms have with each other and with their natural environment [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology] - The branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings [http://oxforddictionaries.com] Population ecology studies the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment. [Odum 1959] Social ecology is conceptualized as a critique of current social, political, and anti-ecological trends, it espouses a reconstructive, ecological, communitarian, and ethical approach to society. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_ecology] Human ecology is the subdiscipline of ecology that focuses on humans. More broadly, it is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_ecology]
ABSOLUTE ECOLOGY - the ultimate state of harmonious, harmless and supporting relationships, attitudes and order between living things, artifice, environment and contributing factors [My own definition]
Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
MY MANIFESTO First and foremost it is addressed to myself because I hardly think I could try and tell anybody else what to do and how to do it, if my own understanding and real life experience has not yet been tested by the honest hands of time.
In this work through analysing my chosen space - the New Cross Gate station - I will be trying to highlight some guidelines to be considered when designing for the World. This is actually the first guideline- always remember, that no matter how large a scale, in the end you are always designing for the world as a whole. Not just economics, or the client, or the idea. It must always make sense as a part of the World.
My main points of reference will be parameters partially derived from such existing fields of science and research as Ecology, Human ecology, Population ecology and Social ecology or completely new ones defined by myself. These parameters are:
PHYSICAL ECOLOGY SOCIAL ECOLOGY MATERIAL ECOLOGY FUTURES ECOLOGY
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
STATION
NEW CROSS GATE
a place where passenger trains stop on a railway line, typically with platforms and buildings;
New Cross Gate station is a railway station in New Cross, London, on the Brighton Main Line and the East London Line. It is about 600 metres west of New Cross station. It is in Travelcard Zone 2, and is operated by London Overground.
[http://oxforddictionaries.com]
PURPOSES I a place to begin, end or transfer a passenger’s journey; II a place to acquire travel and area related information; III a coordinating place signifying the area, marking a popular meeting spot and serving as a reference point; IV a place that the entire surrounding area is identified with, showing the social and economical status of the area
Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
England’s railway boom of the 1830s led to two competing companies driving lines through the area. The original station was officially opened on 1 June 1839 by the London and Croydon Railway. [Turner 1977] The second, by the South Eastern Railway (SER), in the heart of New Cross in 1849. Both companies called their stations “New Cross”, and the earlier station became “New Cross Gate” when they came under the common ownership of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. The original buildings have been lost in a fire in 1844, damaged by a gale in 1863 and used in the war time in 1940’s.
The East London Line closed on 22 December 2007 and reopened on 27 April 2010 as part of the new London Overground system. It was not until 23 May 2010 that London Overground extended the services south.[18] Ticket barriers were installed to all platforms in time for the London Overground services to commence.
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
NEW CROSS GATE STATION
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SHOP
CAFE SHED
i T T T
SHELTER TICKET COUNTER
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Metro stand Service display Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
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Help point
Benches T Ticket machine Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
Information Exit / Entrance Servicing counter
PRIMARY OBSERVATIONS:
SECONDARY OBSERVATIONS:
TERTIARY OBSERVATIONS:
- Difficult to spot from the street, especially for a stranger
- The station building has no character, distinctive qualities, identity
- The platform information is not ideally located, would work better at eye level
- The entrance to the station is large, but badly designed - people keep running into each other at the entrance due to low visibility on either side
- The service information is poorly displayed on antique monitors high up near the sealing and in a relatively small writing which could make it difficult for people with bad eyesight to read it
- For the large masses hovering around the station entrance, there should be more space on the pedestrian walk outside of it - The station building is not aesthetically pleasing to the eye (although the building is quite historic, the shabby “chic” of London street shops has killed) - The interior of the station building is very cold, industrial and uninviting, impersonal - In contrast to the station building, the platforms are more pleasing to the eye (the historic character and aesthetics can still be sensed in the decor) - Often times there is a smell around the platforms that resembles cow excrement, strangely that is one of the sentimental associations that stays with you - The people using the station are mostly in a hurry, inattentive, ignorant
- No lifts, escalators available for disabled people or people with heavy luggage or strollers which creates a secondary problem of blocking the stairs when carrying the large items up/down - Each platform has a seating area, a sheltered area in case of rain or snow and service information displays (much better fitted and sized as the inside ones)
- The free Metro newspaper stand is placed in an unhandy corner which forces people to change the course of their path causing disorder
- The train announcements are clear and frequent
- There is frequently a big mess of used tickets and receipts around the ticket machines
- Once on the platform, people seem to calm down and act more relaxed because they are more in control of the situation - When the train approaches people tend to gather around the expected spots of the doors to get a first hand at getting in (can get quite impolite and aggressive during rush hours)
PHYSICAL ECOLOGY
- The tunnel leading to platform 5 is exceptionally ugly from inside and out
SOCIAL ECOLOGY
- The queuing to exit at the gates is a frustrating issue and there isn’t enough well designed space dedicated for that
MATERIAL ECOLOGY
- The space in the station building in between the ticket machines and the counter is badly planned and insufficiently used
FUTURES ECOLOGY Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
- The ticket and receipt are too similar and busy and are difficult to read (especially for a tourist or a newcomer ) - Do the tickets and receipts both really have to be made from cardboard? - The service tends to be late quite frequently which causes frustration and often seriously impacts the rest of the journey - The help points on all the platforms are hardly ever used and doesn’t seem to accomplish their purpose - The station shop is mostly empty (it is poorly stocked and not very well noticeable)
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
STAKEHOLDERS
BUSINESS ECONOMY
This info graphic is displaying the interconnections and the triangular power relationships between the main stakeholders and factors that surround the establishment of New Cross Gate, most other stations and the transport system in general.
EMPLOYEES
While working on connecting the lines in the first graphic I noticed that these triangular structures rose interconnecting each other directly or through a second party. I realised that these relationships are saying even more about the decision making at present and the possible reasons, motivations behind it.
ENVIRONMENT GEOGRAPHY
I distinguished between political, economical and social relationships.
GOVERNMENT
As we can see once again, that the economical and political relationships are mostly between the determinants and the social relationships are mostly between variables thus resulting in very little real change that is socially meaningful and expected. And it shows that in the decisions and actions made by those who have the power to, the user, the public, the community, the society has very little influence.
NECESSITY TECHNOLOGY
One meaningful relationship I would like to see on this map would be between transport providers, travellers and technology. I mean a relationship that would improve, develop and enhance the transport system and technology.
TIME
There are big plans for expanding lines and building new ones on the new all the time, but many of those plans are visions of a small group or an individual that in reality might not be the first or the most economical improvement necessary. I agree with Victor Papanek [1971] who said that: ‘All men are designers. All that we do, almost all the time, is design, for design is basic to all human activity.’ So I would suggest a system where all people are involved in the development of new designs.
TRANSPORT SERVICE PROVIDERS
travelers TRAVELLERS
POLITICAL
ECONOMICAL
SOCIAL
Inter-relationship triangles distinguished by the dominating character / of the relationships Ethics & Sustainibility Design Manifesto
inter-relationship triangles distinguished by the dominating character of the relationships
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
STAKEHOLDERS This info graphic is displaying the interconnections and power relationships between the main stakeholders and factors that surround the establishment of New Cross Gate, most other stations and the transport system in general.
BUSINESS ECONOMY
I found it useful for myself to distinguish between constant, determinant and variable factors within this scheme.
EMPLOYEES
CONSTANTS stand for time and geography which are unchanging and constant in their nature as well as unresponsive to outside change and manipulation.
ENVIRONMENT
DETERMINANTS are the power structures and organized bodies that can change over time but are generally more constant than the variables group. These are the game changers and main influences in the decision making and planning processes.
GEOGRAPHY GOVERNMENT
Finally the VARIABLES are the categories that are most adoptable, fluid, changing and in many cases have very little or no say at all about the decisions that are maid that influence their lives.
NECESSITY
The colour of the lines connecting two interrelated factors on the list is representing the dominating factor in the relationship. The power relationships are quite obvious and I find it startling that the traveller, who is the central character and the reason for the establishment of public transport services, is basically completely powerless and affected by ruling power structures and economy.
TECHNOLOGY TIME
At the same time all individual reality has become social , directly dependent on social force, shaped by it. It is allowed to appear only because it is not.
TRANSPORT SERVICE PROVIDERS
/Guy Debord 1970/
TRAVELERS
CONSTANTS
DETERMINANTS
FLEXIBLES
Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
The colour of the lines is that of the dominating factor of the relationships
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
SOCIAL ECOLOGY - the relationships, attitudes and order between the needs, the wants and the behaviours of people [My own definition] In my proposition Social ecology stands for the logics, ideology, empathy, ethical stimulus and the behavioural concequences of the design. Ideally the design should be understandable, apprehensible for everyone, intuitive to use, ethically and morally positively stimulating. A good design should be helpful and even rather unnoticable, because it should fit within the daily routine without causing any distress. It goes strongly hand-in-hand with the Phyisical ecology of the designl because sometimes a badly designed detail of an otherwise good object can ruin the whole experience.
One of the first curses of our epoch is our disregard towards our most basic and daily surrounding. In fact it has been studied and proven, as in the V. Papanek’s described experiment with rats, that our everyday surroundings do have a significant impact on our psychology, mood, ability to process information and accept change. An overtechnologized, sterile, and inhuman environment has become one possible future; a world choking under a permanent, dun-coloured pollution umbrella, another. [Papanek 1971] If those are our only options, I do not really want to be a part of it. This is a reason why I would like to argue that while we should avoid becoming slaves to superficiality which is currently being worshiped in the world, we should make sure that our environment and surroundings are pleasing, enjoyable and has a positive effect on our mood and attitude. There is a lot of discussion about class societies and hierarchy, yet we live in one. The social status of an area can be determined by the aesthetics and state of an establishment. This distinction is sad and also potentially dangerous. Guy Debord [1995] wrote ‘wherever one looks, one encounters this Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
same intent: to restructure society without community’. I find this sentence frightening, because that is the reality of today, especially in large cities like London. The summer of 2011 was one proof of how there is only one relatively small catalyst needed to blast open a keg of powder. In reality the dissatisfaction and anger grows for a long time and is built up by many things one of which is the inequality of society and the clear distinctions of areas and by extention it’s poeple. The danger in it is the loss of sense of unity and community which leads to indifference toward person’s own environment. I believe that a proactive strategy should be taken and a real improvement made in terms of designing a beautiful, clean and nice environment that does not have the smell of cheap to it.
Culture is the locus of the search for lost unity. /Guy Debord 1995/
This is what I believe in. Rebuilding the culture. In truth, I don not think that London has much culture. It has what we might call diversity, history, internationalism, but not culture. As Alvin Toffler [1965] has supposedly said ‘The Law of Raspberry Jam: the wider any culture is spread, the thinner it gets.’ If the culture gets spread out so thin, so carelessly as it has in London, you can hardly even tell it’s there.
I have composed an emotional map of New Cross Gate station marking the main points of heightened emotions in response to the design and planning of the station and the effects it causes in people’s behaviour. We could argue that the station in general is more stress prone than a shop or a cafe because there are always people trying to make it in time and as I have pointed out in the stakeholders section, time is one of the constant and relentless factors in life. The several issues I have covered in the Physical ecology section are closely connected to the Social ecology. As soon as something goes wrong with the function or arrangement of a service, we are prone to become unhappy, frustrated and that in turn affects our relationships and attitudes towards others. These points of frustration as well as other dominating emotions have been marked in the emotion map. Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
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SHOP
CAFE SHED
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SHELTER
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Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
TICKET COUNTER
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
MATERIAL ECOLOGY - the relationships, attitudes and order between functionality of materials, cost and affordances of intended users [My own definition] In my proposition Material ecology stands for the use and choice of materials of the design that influence its quality, functionality, cost and price as well as the overpricing itself. Ideally the materials used for the design should be ideally fitted in terms of best fit for the purpose and best value. A good design should be accessible, affordable, but not for the cost of compromising quality. As Victor Papanek mentions repeatedly, you must consider who you’re designing for and why? To achieve simple goals you should do it by simple means. This part is also a statement against elitism and the grossly overvalued luxury that has truly lead us to a spectaclistic society with shallow minds and hearts. However, this is not a crusade against aesthetics, because as proven, it is an important stakeholder when it comes to human emotion and satisfaction.
Materiality of things has two sides: one is function, another sensation. The second one cannot be ignored because after all, that is how we perceive the world and therefor builds up a large part of our judgement and opinion of it. We have a working, sturdy ticket machine, plastic ticket gates and plastic trains. Living in a world of metal and plastic is hardly satisfying for most. New Cross Gate station is just that way. Everything is made to work agreeably and look acceptably, but no more. Although those are 10-30 minutes a regular person might spend in the station, in a month it is approximately 8h, in a year it is over 90h. Add the average 1.5h in the train or tube a day and you get over 600h a year. That is a staggering number and no longer stands the status of being a small part of our lives.
Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
As a new designer I cannot argue which of the popular materials should be best used for the trains or seat covers, but I can argue, that all of our surroundings in the urban environment and especially public one is extremely synthetic and artificial. Victor Papanek [1971] talks a lot about biology, the wonderful adaptive and highly intelligent beings and materials in nature. Many designs have been developed inspiring from the nature, but the materials themselves are far from explored. Papanek [1971] mentioned a crystal with moisture controlling mechanisms within it. Surely there are realms of natural resources not yet discovered that would be much more suitable for a city environment and extent of use, but not as wasteful as wood for example. New Cross Gate station building is historic and if examined carefully, behind the plastic signs and metal security shutters an old classical British brick wall is revealed. This kind of material is aesthetical and functional. But none of the original furnishing is visible on the inside. The uneven interior wall is all painted over with a glossy think layer or yellowish paint. That is all the design you will get. The ticket counter is covered with metal sheet that feels a little like a butchers table that is good for cleaning off blood at the end of the day. I truly do not understand these design choices, the only answer I can find is that this was the cheapest way to cover the old and the rust. Finally I would like to point out the similarity and material of the ticket and its receipt. From the first day I arrived in London till now I still have to spend more than a brief moment to distinguish which of the cards is the ticket and which is the receipt. Using same design and same material for both items is wasteful and confusing. If it was me, first, I would give the customer the choice to decline receipt and secondly they would certainly be printed on a regular receipt paper. To save on cost and make many products more available to the public a beautiful suggestion is to manufacture things that are highly customizable and produced in a way, that they can be decorated later on by the user. Same with the station. I think that if anybody really gave creative, talented, skilled people a chance, many of the historic station buildings could be renovated by the community for a lower price with its own human resources. And that would work because people would be doing it for themselves.
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
Artcosanti city in central Arizona, construction started in 1970
Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
BioThink by Mohammad Ghezel
2046 Personal Commuter in Paris Design / Year by Daisuke Iguchi Daina Geidmane / BA 2
FUTURES ECOLOGY - the relationships, attitudes and order between the current state of things and the potential change and improvments [My own definition] In my proposition Futures ecology stands rather for a state of mind than the state of design. Ideally a designer should be as eager as a child - always exploring and looking for new things, ways, discoveries. A child is interested in everything and his mind is not totally ruled by logic and linearity. A designer should always leave an open mind about his designs so that they could be improved and developed. Life proves to us daily that as much as we strive to, we do not know where or how it ends, so all the opportunities should be left open...
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. /Alvin Toffler, 1991/
That is the main idea of the Futures ecology and an important memento to keep with you when finishing a design. In terms of looking at New Cross Gate station or any other station for that matter, there is always work to be done, there are always repairs and improvements and there is always space for good upgrades. I would like to walk into a station filled with light from the large windows and open walls that ensure great visibility and sense of openness and air. I would like to never slip on a beautiful intelligent crystal floor that knows how to deal with rain water and dirt. I would like a much cheaper transport and more efficient service. Actually, I would like not to have to walk to the station or rush to make it in time.
Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
V. Papanek is correct when he points that people like to leave well enough alone and somehow not strive for more, for better. Given the extreme congestions on the streets and overloaded trains and buses, maybe a more efficient, convenient and comfortable system can be made. As with Papanek’s [1971] no car/ taxi city. Or maybe with the principle proposed by Paolo Soleri and his Arcosanti city, which is both beautiful and extremely convenient. That would mean redesigning our environment so that all we need is in a close proximity and there is no need for a high capacity public transport. In the age of such technical and communication system advancement it should not cause businesses to bankrupt or society to disintegrate, just restructure and re-organize. Given the character of this system that would encourage strong communities to occur and refined, cultured cultures to develop.
OSArc supersedes architectures of static geometrical form with the introduction of dynamic and participatory processes, networks, and systems. Its proponents see it as distinguished by code over mass, relationships over compositions, networks over structures, adaptation over stasis. Its purpose is to transform architecture from a topdown immutable delivery mechanism into a transparent, inclusive and bottom-up ecological system - even if it still includes top-down mechanisms. /Open Source Architecture/
Open sourcing, experience and knowledge sharing, organizing designers’ communities that live and work together towards projects they find meaningful and interesting. Being true advocates for what we shape and influence. That means what Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in his world famous book: ‘You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.’ And finally Futures ecology means seeing a future for your design. Designing with meaning and purpose that can withstand the wheel of time and grow. Over a century ago a famous Latvian writer Rainis said: ‘It shall remain which alters itself.’ That means that everything must grow and change and our creations and the process itself should not wither. Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
BIBLIOGRAPHY Arcosanti (2012) Available on: http://www.arcosanti.org/ BBC News (2010) East London Line officially opened. Available on: http:// news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8620188.stm Debord, G. (1995) Society of Spectacle. New York, Zone Books “ecology”. Oxford Dictionaries (2010) Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press. Available on: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ ecology?q=ecology Ecology (2012) Available on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology England Riots (2011) Available on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14436499 Human Ecology (2012) Available on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_ ecology New Cross Gate railway station (2012) Available on: http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/New_Cross_Gate_railway_station
Social Ecology (2008) Available on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_ecology “station”. Oxford Dictionaries (2010) Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press. Available on: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ station?q=station Toffler, A. (1965) The Culture Consumers: Art and Affluence in America. New York, Baltimore, Penguin Books Toffler, A. (1971) Future Shock. New York, Bantam Books Toffler, A. (1991) Power Shift, Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century. New York, Bantam Books Turner, J.T. Howard (1977) London Brighton and South Coast Railway 1. Origins and Formation. London: Batsford. pp. 63–4.
Norman, D.A. (2010) Living with Complexity. London, The MIT Press Open Source Architecture (2011) Senseable City Lab: Domus magazine, Vol. 948. Available at: http://www.domusweb.it/index.cfm Odum, E. P. (1959). Fundamentals of Ecology (Second ed.). Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Co.. p. 546 Papanek, V. (1971) Designing for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change. New York, Pantheon Books Population Ecology (2012) Available on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Population_ecology
Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2
CONCLUSION One of the most important things to remember and not loose track of when working a design of any kind is that no matter what the task is, in the end we are designing for the people. And not just some mythical mystical society, but people living here and now. What we need to consider most carefully is what THEIR needs are? What THEIR means are? What THEIR values and customs are? It is as if we enter into a relationship with them, and nothing good can come out of any relationship if there they are lacking respect, understanding, consideration and care. The most important factor in bringing the design into life and giving it meaning, value are going to be the users. And this means considering more than just people’s weaknesses, it’s being responsible when bringing new things into the world. It means realising what power you have been given. In his book Designing for the Real World Victor Papanek says that it means to become the advocates of the people, not just the tools of the industry. In an age of mass production when everything must be planned and designed, design has become the most powerful tool with which man shapes his tools and environments (and, by extension, society and himself). /V. Papanek 1972/
The four large pillars: Physical ecology, Social ecology, Material ecology, Futures ecology, shall serve as the main reference points throughout my design process. To seek the best functionality and usability over form and fashion, to seek the most adoptable and easily relatable solutions, to be creative and explorative in search of most efficient materials to make my design accessible and pleasant, to never say ‘It is done!’, because that is where we limit ourselves.
Ethics & Sustainibility / Design Manifesto
Daina Geidmane / BA Design / Year 2