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SPIRITUALITY & SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN
AURA ISSUE No.1 $14.95 INC GST
“If we think about the process behind a product, maybe we value it more and keep it longer” ISSUE No.1
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Cover Quote: Hanna-Kaarina Heikkilä.
“We want to highlight those behind the product. There are so many people involved in a process, even if it is machine made items”
Hanna-Kaarina Heikkilä The Sjalvstandig vase from IKEA’s limmited
edition range launched in late 2018 is an example of the role a designer plays in influencing the
design process from begining to end in a “master to apprentice” form of communication. Designed
by Hanna-Kaarina Heikkila as a member of IKEA’s in-house design team, she utilised a variety of methods to reach her design goals.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
Hello and Welcome
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Design Research
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Design Questions
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Proposition
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Design Practice
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The Making Process
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Product Outcome
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Design Conclusions
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Hello & Welcome
T
he concept of spirituallity will mean something different to each individual person who reads these words. however, spirituality has not been explored to its farthest extent in the field of design. This literary outcome is designed to spark a conversation and idealy showcase the role spirituality has on our pursuits of sustainability. There will be summaries of the field of research into spiritual concepts focused on their impacts in the design process, case studies of practitioners whose work champions the ideas of spirituality in sustainable design and design questions, paradoxes and propositions that will call for further exploration and promote the material outcomes of this field of research. This is the first of what we hope will be many issues of AURA, highlighting the fields of design that seem to go unoticed and unexplored of which can greatly change the way we design and look at the future we want to lead. Steven Rollis Co-Editor
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Editors Steven Rollis Steven is a second year Industrial Design student at RMIT University. He graduated the Associate
Degree in Design (Furniture) in 2017. Steven loves to sketch, play sport and socialise with friends.
Benjamin King Ben is a second year Industrial Design Student and likes long walks on the beach.
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SPIRITUALITY IN DESIGN DESIGN RESEARCH
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Contemporary spirituality is broadly considered the focus and intention of developing ones self from within. It is the process of looking inwards with an emphasis on self-care and being ‘in the moment’. Spirituality can involve the development of a mind and body link through the five-sensors of the human body in an effort to achieve a form of self-awareness. In the pursuit of environmental sustainability, we can use design to encourage the contemporary aspects of spirituality and promote the recognition of our surroundings, the consequences of our actions and the development of our values and principles. 7 7
PHOTO BY BENJAMIN KING
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THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION OF SUSTAINABILITY Spirituality as a dimension of sustainability is a major component of the six spheres within sustainability, likewise these spheres are dependent on each other and always coexist. Religion is not the bases for the spiritual sphere, rather it is concerned with “... self-awareness, self-development and mindfulness nurtured in the every-day encounters of the world.’(Ivanka, Tania & Akama, Yoko & Duque, Melisa & Sanin, Juan, 2015, p. 103). According to Krempl (2014) contemporary spirituality is also our “Moral values, ethics and principles”. Thus, spirituality is core to sustainability since it is “...what is seen as right” in regards to human impact upon the natural environment. (Krempl). Spirituality became a pillar of sustainability over debate of the ‘triple bottom line’ a sustainability framework first introduced in 1994 by John Elkington. (Elkington, 2018). This debate developed over the frameworks lack of ability to actively attempt to contribute positively in society. As a result the “triple bottom line” has been expanded into the “6 spheres of sustainability” in order to “broaden and specify” the elements in true sustainability so that design has a positive impact over simply offering reduced impact designs. (Ivanka, et al. p. 103). The 6 spheres structure is derived from the Health Map and the permaculture design zones. (Ivanka, et al. p. 104) Below are diagrams which illustrate the original “triple bottom line” framework (figure 1) and the 6 spheres of sustainability structure (figure 2).
Krempl, S. 2014. Is spirituality the essence of sustainability? Lunn, J. and Bizjak, S. (ed), The Truth is Out There, pp. 169-181. Western Australia: Black Swan Press
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Ivanka, Tania & Akama, Yoko & Duque, Melisa & Sanin, Juan. (2015). Scales, spheres and relationships: an approach to educating future designers. Unmaking Waste 2015 Conference Proceedings
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THE MAGICAL THING
Kristine. H, Harper. Aesthetic sustainability: Product design and sustainable usage (2017)
In this chapter from Aesthetic sustainability: Product design and sustainable usage (2017) Kristine H. Harper suggests some things ‘ignite’ feelings in their owners that can stimulate their senses or encourage fond aesthetic experiences. They have a natural quality that makes people want to spend time with them. She suggests that designers can ‘fill’ an object with the potential of releasing “auratic power” by considering and contemplating the experiences the user will have with the object. In reflecting on this writing from Kristine Harper we are able to pinpoint a variety of ways we can have a strong spiritual connection with innanimate objects. Harper mentions directions the design process can take to create objects that are vessels for their owners to form unbreakable bonds with, increasing the longevity of the object in the consumers possesion. They become unique even though they are the children of mass production. The idea that individuals have an inate ability to be “truly in-touch” with themselves, their surroundings and objects, calls for further research into encouraging this mindset through design.
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Harper, K. (2018). Aesthetic sustainability: Product design and sustainable usage. The magical thing. (pp. 97-112). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.
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INTRINSIC VALUE OF OBJECTS, MEMORY AND STORY Objects that hold the highest value to us “are often worthless to others” (Chapman, 2015, p. 65). Emotional attachment to our material belongings is often temporary and short lasting in contemporary mass produce items. On the other hand objects that incorporate elements of uniqueness in many forms can often develop long lasting relationships with their owners. These forms of uniqueness generally orientate around the story behind the creation of such object or the story of it’s use. In either case the object develops a sense of aura and evokes a higher value to the user than would otherwise be if the item was without meaningful context. Heirlooms, art works, one off handcrafted goods, childhood treasures, antiques, daily use tools, etc are examples of such objects. (Chapman) Products that facilitate greater meaning than just a primary function are “positively related to the degree of consumer-product attachment” (Chapman, p. 68). Developing products that facilitate these deeper personal meanings create a longer lasting “...love established between people and things...” (Chapman, p. 78). This type of product is generally more sustainable as opposed to mass produced disposable products that become waste shortly after manufacture. (Chapman). An antique spokeshave embodied with intrinsic value through its use over one hundred years of skilled woodworkers. Later it has been passed on as a personal gift between close friends
E Chapman, J. (2015). Chapter three attachments to objects, Emotionally durable design : Objects, experiences and empathy (Second ed.). Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY: Routledge.
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PHOTO BY BENJAMIN KING
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WABI-SABI Wabi-Sabi is a traditional Japanese spirituality based on aesthetic values. It conveys a world view where “All things are impermanent” (Leonard, k. 2008, p46), “All things are imperfect” (Leonard, k. p49) and “All things are incomplete” (Leonard, k. p49). The words wabi and sabi originally defined a depressive lifestyle. Essentially sabi represented “withered” (Leonard, k. p21) and wabi conveyed the hardship of living isolated in nature, however, since “the 14th century” (Leonard, k. p22) the words have evolved to represent a positive perspective of the natural and imperfect aesthetic since it does not overwhelm both the mind and environment. Sustainability is linked with Wabi-Sabi since it is deeply connected to the natural environment. The Wabi-Sabi concept in which everything eventually vanishes “into oblivion and nonexistence” (Leonard, k, p. 49) directly results in objects being made for the present using natural raw materials that degrade and thus leaving no mark on the environment. Furthermore, Leonard points out that modernism is “future-orientated” where as Wabi-Sabi is “present-orientated”(p. 27). This interestingly contradicts the idea of sustainability.
Leonard, K. (2008). Wabi-sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers. Imperfect Publishing
LearnJapanese123.com. (2019). Raku Ware [Website image]. Retrieved from https:// learnjapanese123.com/wabi-sabi-and-the-japanese-identity/
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Secatibe runtum earum sincilla velenimus auta nobit raecus di omniet
There is an intrinsic nature to objects that are not only hand made in production, but require the consumer to interact with them changing their state in unique ways. This concept is evident inparticularly with the use of drums. Requiring the consumer to hit the object will not only give each individual their own state of flow but the instrument will become special to them through the experience they have had with the object. The objects aesthetics are then changed with each hit adding to its aura.
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DESIGN QUESTIONS Can we create a product that gets people to fully turn off their rational thoughts and be open to the aura of objects and environments?
At what stage can products be given or create personal value between them and their consumer?
Can we design a product that uses tactile characteristics to promote senual activation, fulfillment and a potential state of ‘flow’?
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OUR PROPOSITION The consumerist culture of our society has led to the disposal of products and objects that have been designed over the years with very little consideration to their end-of-life characteristics. It is this reason that we require systemic change to our design process in the form of producing products that naturally form a robust relationship with the consumer. Utilising slow design techniques and the language of aesthetics we can attempt to extend the lifecycle of these products by championing its previous purpose and function that it can no longer fulfil, giving it new functionality that will allow a new consumer to create their own bond with the object.
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“Holding [clay] shaped by [a] potter’s hands, we can feel their warmth, know their skills and glimpse at the way they see the world. Inanimate objects, therefore, are the embodiment of the people who create them” - Yoko Akama
Akama, Y. (2012). A ‘Way of Being’ in Design: Zen and the Art of Being a Human-Centred Practitioner. Design Philosophy Papers, 10(1), 63-80.
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SPIRITUALITY IN DESIGN
DESIGN PRACTICE AND APPLICATION
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DESIGN IN PRACTICE
The story of an objects history and experiences can sometimes lead to an established aura before they are met with a consumer. This gives the object multiple lifecycles and can increase its longevity before disposal 18
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The research branch of spirituality in sustainable design is one of the broadest topics one could study. Our research led us to the realisation that their is often a form of spirituality that comes with forming a bond with an inanimate object. 19
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SCAVENGING FOR ‘RETIRED’ OBJECTS
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THE MAKING PROCESS
EMPLOYING THEM IN NEW WAYS
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“It is so terribly trendy to care, about the poor, the environment, and every for of ‘betterment’ that I begin to assume we must be selling more design by fetishizing social relevance” -David Stairs, Design Altruism Project.
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AN OLD PRODUCT
BUT WITH SO MUCH MORE TO LIVE
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DESIGN CONCLUSIONS We as a species have just scraped the surface of what the spiritual element of design has to offer us, most urgently is its contribution to sustainability. The use of slow design processes to repurpose the life of objects that have in essence retired from the original calling in a way that they not only serve a new function but they train the consumer to notice. To notice the little things that make important things, important. By sourcing materials that have a story behind them, can be functional yet they look exhausted, we give the object its own story as a collective of the components that make it up. Contrary to the arbitrary way mass produced consumer culture items are promoted today as fads and update friendly, creating worn objects with a history into functional designed products evidently will lead to a reduction in landfill build up among other environmental benefits.
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STUDY CONCLUSIONS This design studies course has exposed me to a way of thinking that will help me with my design considerations in future design processes. Even though i focused on the concept of intrinsic value leading to longer lasting products. I would like to explore some of the other concepts i discovered around Human-Centred design practitioners and the Zen Principles. I think it is vital that we as designers are not just surface deep in our considerations of sustainability but live it in our daily lives and practise sustainable design with every concept we produce in the future. The works of Yoko Akama and Stuart Walker seem to be literature i am interested in reading outside of the design ecologies class. Thinking about all aspects of a product and how it will be experienced- a holistic design approach- is a pivotal lesson from this study and i will attempt to pursue this way of designing throughout my career. Steven Rollis Co-Editor
Industrial Design Ecologies has expanded my depth of thought and range of considerations in both my everyday life activities and during my design projects. Even though I focused on the concept of intrinsic value leading to longer lasting products. A particular design aesthetic philosophy that took my interest during this project is Wabi Sabi. Many of the Wabi Sabi design principles I look forward to further exploring in my future projects. It is also important to me that when designing with a contemporary spirituality that I follow through and be consistent with it’s principles not just in the design, but also during my day to day life. At the beginning of this course I had some difficulty with understanding some of the topics involved. Once the topics and ideas regarding the spiritual dimension of sustainability became clear I was able to produce a final object and other works that I am very proud of with my co-designer Steven Rollis. Benjamin King Co-Editor
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Industrial Design Ecologies: Sustainability, Socio-technical Systems and Change (1910) Semester 1 2019 Bachelor of Industrial Design RMIT Steven Rollis s3605378 Benjamin King s3718298
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