KU LEUVEN – Faculty of Architecture – Campus St.-Lucas Ghent academic year 2019 – 2020 / semester one syllabus ARCHITECTURE & SUSTAINABILITY course assignment Literature Review Ghent, 18/01/2020 RemakingReviewWilliamMcDonoughandMichaelBraungart’smanifestoCradletoCradle:theWaywemakeThings(2002) societyto‘reduce’‘stop’‘minimise’,toanoptimisticapproachledbydesign.Thebookitselfadvocatinganideologicalshiftfromanegativeapproachtoclimatebreakdown,thatencourages‘CradletoCradle:Remakingthewaywemakethings’presentsaguilt-freemanifesto,written.reviewofthemanifesto,placingitwithinthewestern,consumeristcontextinwhichitwastheorygivesdesignacentralroleinafuturecirculareconomy.Thispaperpresentsacriticalproductionmodes.PatentedbyWilliamMcDonoughandMichaelBraungart,‘CradletoCradle’‘closed-loop’life-cycle,knownasanecologicalalternativetopost-industrial‘CradletoGrave’Incontemporarydesign,‘CradletoCradle’hasbecomeauniversaltermthatdefinesa 1 recyclable.Thistactileexampleportraystheambitionofthetheory,whichplacesdesignatthetreatmentthetextcanberemovedandanewbookcanbeprinted,makingthebookinfinitelyembodiesthistheory,itspagesaremanufacturedfrominertplasticpolymer,sowithacertain 2 centre of a sustainable ideaof‘wasteequalsfood’andtheystronglyadvocateafuturewherebyhumanitycantechnologicalorganisms.Theauthorsusetheanalogyofthe‘cherrytree’tofurtherexplaintheirTheycallforafuturewherewasteiseliminated,andinsteadbecomesfoodforbiologicalorMcDonough,whohaveaninterdisciplinaryoutlookonhowwecanredesignelementsofsociety.TheideologyisaproductofaChemist,MichaelBraungart,andanArchitect,Williamfuture. 3 proactively nourish the earth within its post-industrial system of production and consumption. Fig.1. T. Wautelet, Distinction between biological and technical cycles in the Cradle-to-Cradle design, 2018 [website] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322555840_The_Concept_of_Circular_Economy_its_Origins_and_its_Evolution (accessed 16 Jan 2020) 1 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. 2 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, 2002. p. 70. 3 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, 2002. p. 92. 1 Amy Grounsell, Daniel Montes, Gal·la Maculet.
Braungart and McDonough term this design attitude, which focuses on products and services replenishing the world after their use, as ‘Eco effectiveness’. Arguably, this redefinition of waste is the most radical aspect of the Cradle to Cradle manifesto, and has had the most impact on science and design. However, the authors expand further on the importance of diversity and4 locality in achieving ‘Eco-effective’ designs, stating ‘All Sustainability is Local’ and expressing5 the necessity to look to local solutions for effective design. Braungart and McDonough emphasise the importance of diversity in creating resilient products, communities and ecosystems. Again, they make comparisons to the natural world, claiming that crops have a6 higher chance of surviving natural disasters when they are planted in a more diverse way
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41162993
A Fair Accord Cradle to Cradle as a Design Theory Measured against J ohn Rawls' Theory of Justice and Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative (accessed 16 Jan 2020)
Fig 2 W McDonough and M Braungart, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things, 2002 Published in 2002, Cradle to Cradle is born within an era of consumerism that was widespread at the turn of the 21st century. Naomi Klein’s seminal work No Logo (1999) first identifies the problems of the consumer neo-liberalist phenomenon, as she documents the conflict between individual citizenship and corporate dominance, and reveals the shocking impact of western big brands, such as Nike, on the rest of the world It is important to place Cradle to Cradle in this8 context as we reveal a key disposition of the book: a sustainable future is achievable without 4 J Voorthuis and C Gijbels, ‘A Fair Accord: Cradle to Cradle as a Design Theory Measured against John Rawls' A Theory of Justice and Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative’, MDPI Sustainability, 2010
5 W McDonough and M Braungart, 2002, p 123 6 W McDonough and M Braungart, ‘Diversity equals resilience’, 2002, p 118 7 W McDonough and M Braungart, 2002, p 153
The Final chapter of Cradle to Cradle further distinguishes it as an influential text, as the authors outline a tool for achieving eco-effective designs, namedly ‘Triple top line’ design . The idea7 presented is that products should be designed related to Equity, Ecology and Economy standards with the goal of reaching a Cradle to Cradle product Theoretically, if a product provides nourishment instead of waste, and is marketed at a competitive price, using ethical production processes, it can be deemed ‘Cradle to Cradle certified’
8 N Klein, No Logo, Toronto, Random House of Canada, 1999 2 Amy Grounsell, Daniel Montes, Gal la Maculet
compromising consumer-led economic markets. This idea also emerges in their frequent analogies with nature, as they compare the free-market economy to the ‘messy, creative, unpredictable’ cherry tree. McDonough and Braungart present a model, in which the free9 pursuit of growth, born in the take-make-waste Industrial revolution, can continue in a reframed manner where waste becomes ‘food’ This attitude places the problem of sustainability with the designer rather than the consumer, making it attractive to Industry and Business as it offered companies a way to be sustainable without drastic change The approach, which favours large corporations, is widespread in the manifesto, for example ‘our new design eliminated the need for regulation, something that any businessperson will appreciate as extremely valuable’ In10 light of Kleins 1999 investigation, it is important to question the growth of the C2C brand and the possibility for new products to obtain the logo of ‘C2C Certificatied’ This can be easily adopted11 by brands or companies in order to obtain another ‘label’ to make their products more attractive
Further, it can be argued that the Cradle to Cradle manifesto lacks solutions that embody the social dimension of holistic sustainable development. At times, their neoliberalist attitude seems naive to the effects of free market economic growth on increasing inequality in society. They place their faith in the individual commitment of the consumer, in the free market context, to buy products conscientiously from sustainable and ethical sources. 18 years since the manifesto was conceived, there is still not a strong enough demand for these closed-loop, ethical and ecological products or services to make the market-led change, promoted by McDonough and Braungart, viable. In addition, the design-led development the authors propose addresses a western society Indeed, it has been analysed how this focus on remanufactured products appeals exclusively to western consumer principles According to Pengji Wang (2017) Asian consumers have different inherent values and ‘environmentally conscious consumers do not show a high appreciation for the green concept of remanufactured products in Asia ’13 It is interesting to see how their ideology does not apply to consumers from other parts of the world, and prompts an evaluation of their outlook McDonough and Braungart’s radical denial of environmental discourse as ‘pessimistic’ can be linked to their world view, since what they consider negative, such as limitations and cutting back, might not have the same connotations for other cultures which have not experienced mass consumerism The authors intended to make a switch in the environmental discourse of limitation to a proactive attitude towards consumerism
Speaking of the new design assignment they search for ‘a world of abundance, 9 W McDonough and M Braungart, 2002, p 85 10 W McDonough and M Braungart, 2002, p 109 11 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Cradle to Cradle certified, 2020 [website] https://www.c2ccertified.org/ (accessed 5 Jan 2020) 12 N A Ankraha, E Manua, C Booth, ‘Cradle to cradle implementation in business sites and the perspectives of tenant stakeholders’, Energy Procedia, vol 83, no 1, 2015, https://doi org/10 1016/j egypro 2015 12 193 (accessed 16 Jan 2020) pp 31 40 13 P Wang, A T H Kuah, ‘Green marketing cradle to cradle: Remanufactured products in Asian markets’, Thunderbird International Business Review, vol 60, issue 5, 2017, https://doi org/10 1002/tie 21925 (accessed 16 Jan 2020) pp 783 795 3 Amy Grounsell, Daniel Montes, Gal la Maculet
However, the ambition of McDonough and Braungart was to find a solution to the growing12 environmental crisis, that could be implemented immediately in society by individual designers or businesses, so even if the purpose behind relates to company profits, they are still products that help combat the climate crisis.
not one of limits, pollution and waste’. McDonough and Braungart have a preconceived ideal14 that glorifies growth, meaning they don’t question the over-consumption of western societies.
In short, McDonough and Braungart’s ideology states that as long as the production is responsible, the over-consumption can be guilt-free, or what’s more, it can contribute to a more sustainable planet (‘waste equals food’) If we compare this with the recent UN Sustainable Development Goals (fig 3), adopted by 150 member states in 2015, we see there has been a shift away from this ideology Goal 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, crucially demands a more careful approach to consumption not just production 16 Fig 3, United Nat org/?menu=1300
The manifesto format of Cradle to Cradle inclines the discourse towards a theoretical approach, detached from practice. Their ideas, metaphors and methodologies are close to utopian. We are still far from making products that are completely ‘eco-effective’, for example creating ‘cars that release positive emissions and generate other nutritious effects on the environment’.15 Furthermore, the theory calls upon designers to actively seek ecological ‘closed-loop’ solutions, but does not assess the other forces that are necessary for material, product or architectural development
Usually, investment in design comes from the private business sphere, which can render the designer powerless in a quest for profit
Often, a shift in mindset and habits is more relevant than the redesign and remanufacture of a product. For example, ‘Marinatex’, a new biodegradable plastic made from organic fish waste which won the Dyson Award in 2019, aims to replace single-use plastic bags However, it17 14 W McDonough and M Braungart, 2002, p 91 15 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, 2002, p. 179. 16 United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, 2015 [website] https://sustainabledevelopment un org/?menu=1300 (accessed 18 Jan 2020) 17 R Smithers, ‘Plastic substitute from fish waste hauls in Dyson award for UK designer’, The Guardian, 14 Nov 2019, https://www theguardian com/environment/2019/nov/14/plastic substitute made of fish waste hauls in uk designer dyson award (accessed 13 Dec 2019) 4 Amy Grounsell, Daniel Montes, Gal la Maculet
Still, McDonough and Braungart formed a proactive design methodology that must be considered by contemporary designers When used appropriately, the manifesto can inspire useful solutions to help tackle climate breakdown Oxford words
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It should be recognised that it was conceived as a manifesto that advocated a continuation of a consumerist way of living, and that re design is not always the most applicable solution
Therefore, in the later case, cradle to cradle ideology has motivated designers to take action, and successfully replace a necessary product with one that leaves no trace on the planet
Amy Grounsell, Daniel Montes, Gal la Maculet
Fig 4, Skipping Rocks Lab, Ohoo, Water you can eat 2017 [website] https://www notpla com/ (accessed 17 Jan 2020)
could be more ecologically efficient to shift attitudes toward plastic bags, and simply encourage individuals to reuse longer lasting fabric bags. In comparison, a new company, Ooho, recently developed edible water capsules for marathon runners, made from a thin seaweed skin. (fig 4) Marathon runners are able to continue their race without stopping to fill up a cup or drinking from a fountain, and plastic waste from throw away bottles of water is completely eliminated, instead becoming literal ‘food’ for the runners
The Cradle to Cradle ideology inspires incremental, bottom up, positive environmental change
referencing style 1564
Biography McDonough, W. and Braungart, M., Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. Voorthuis, J. and Gijbels, C., ‘A Fair Accord: Cradle to Cradle as a Design Theory Measured against John Rawls' A Theory of Justice and Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative’, MDPI Sustainability, 2010 https://www researchgate net/publication/41162993 A Fair Accord Cradle to Cradle as a D esign Theory Measured against John Rawls' Theory of Justice and Immanuel Kant's Cat egorical Imperative (accessed 16 Jan 2020) Klein, N , No Logo, Toronto, Random House of Canada, 1999 McDonough, W and Braungart, M , Cradle to Cradle certified, 2020 [website] https://www c2ccertified org/ (accessed 5 Jan 2020) Ankraha, N A , Manua E and Booth, C , ‘Cradle to cradle implementation in business sites and the perspectives of tenant stakeholders’, Energy Procedia, vol 83, no 1, 2015, https://doi org/10 1016/j egypro 2015 12 193 (accessed 16 Jan 2020)
Wang, P. and Kuah, A. T. H., ‘Green marketing cradle to cradle: Remanufactured products in Asian markets’, Thunderbird International Business Review, vol. 60, issue 5, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.21925 (accessed 16 Jan 2020) United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, 2015 [website] https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300 (accessed 18 Jan 2020) W. J. Ripple, C. Wolf, T. M. Newsome, P. Barnard, W. R. Moomaw. ‘‘World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency’, BioScience, vol 70, Issue 1, 2019 https://doi org/10 1093/biosci/biz088 Smithers, R , ‘Plastic substitute from fish waste hauls in Dyson award for UK designer’, The Guardian, 14 Nov 2019, https://www theguardian com/environment/2019/nov/14/plastic substitute made of fish waste ha uls in uk designer dyson award (accessed 13 Dec 2019) 6 Amy Grounsell, Daniel Montes, Gal la Maculet