William Christenberry - various websites and books - He has been photographing Hale County, Alabama for most of his career, and his work is an interesting way to see how an area evolves. He would revisit the site of old photos and photograph them often years later.
For my first World Changing response, I read the section entitled “Creating Healthy Homes” (p.47). Sometimes it is daunting to decide where to start when determining how to alleviate the global environmental crisis, but I think an effective and fairly easy place to start is in our own home – the place where we spend the most time. I was aware of the harmful components in many household cleaners, but the article enumerated the specific chemicals and their effects, which I found very interesting. It also gave natural, safer alternatives to the dangerous products, which was helpful; in addition, it warned about seemingly environmentally-friendly products that, at closer inspection, are actually not so green after all. There was also a short section about the efficacy of recycling, which I often wonder about myself. Many studies have shown that recycling takes much less energy than producing a new product, but we still have a long way to go before it’s a completely energy-efficient process. I think that the advances being made in recycling are great, but we could make even more of an impact if we learned how to go to the root of the problem and reduce the amount that we consume.
ReplyDeleteFor my second World Changing response, I read the “Art Meets Technology” section on p. 96. I am very interested in the role of art and design in a broader societal context, and I hope to use my own art in the future to make some social impact. I think that the increasing use of technology in art is inevitable; even though I prefer hand-crafted, individualized artwork, I have become more open-minded to the abundance of technological art that’s showing up everywhere. While all of the projects that the book described are not necessarily vital to the good of society (i.e. the hug shirt), they do add interest and curiosity to people’s lives, and that’s what art should do, right? The article also described a few projects that are meant to bring environmental problems to light, such as the carbon-sniffing robot; I think these are interesting ideas, but I think they are only the first step in creating change. I suppose that artists have the unique opportunity to bring issues to the public’s attention in unconventional and interesting ways, so it’s good that they are applying their talents to this realm.
ReplyDeleteCraft it youself P90
ReplyDeleteThis article was interesting just from its title and the pictures that go with the page. As an artist, I craft daily from daily objects that is available everywhere, stuff that I buy from store, candy wrappers, scrap ribbons and even toilet papers. This article tells us about the "do it yourself" movement.
DIY concept gained mometum since the late 1990s when our accessibility to tools and information became easily accessible. Unlike in its earliest days, the DIY idea today has become popular to main-stream audience that people are willing to make something unique and make small mark on the world. DIY design concept originated from Marcel Duchamp, the surrealist who coined the term readymade to describe artworks made from everyday wares. Now, the term does not only refer to art movment, but anyone's sheer will to create and actualize from surreal imagination. I think the concept is the basis to the modern world of consumerism in which we innovate and produce objects for our own use yet get the opportunity to mass produce.
In World Changing’s article called “Art Meets Technology” several innovations in technologies are discussed, many of which I find to be quite ironic. One product is the Hug Shirt. This shirt allows the user to feel a hug from the person they are speaking with on a cell phone. The shirt tracks heart beats and monitors skins sensitivity. Another product is Wearables for Environemal Awarenes. This product allows a person to listen to more peaceful sounds as they walk through urban settings.
ReplyDeleteBoth of these products seem ironic to me because its as if the effort to reconnect us, actually disconnect us from others and our environment. If we need to feel a hug from a person, but can achieve it from a phone call and a shirt, where does that leave human interaction? This same idea can be applied to the wearables, if we are listening to sounds from headphone as we walk through an environment, doesn’t that bring us even further from our surroundings? These inventions seem to be created with the best of intensions, but I believe they are essentially counter productive.
For my sixth World Changing response I read the article “Art Meets Technology” under the “Stuff” section. It was about creative thinkers who use technology to prompt deeper reflection about society. I say creative thinker because these people do not refer to themselves as artists because their work is not represented in galleries; instead they are engineers, architects, designers and hackers- hackers being the most interesting to me because I am so bad with computer coding etc. The article then lists a series of technological gadgets like the hug shirt that re-creates the physical pressure and warmth of a real hug and a video game that simulates working at kinkos- this reminded me of the game Farmville on Facebook. The line that stood out to me most was that these products, although not fine art, accomplish the same things, “they trigger new experiences that transform our perceptions of what is and what could be.”
ReplyDeleteI think this article is particularly important because my generation is the laptop generation. At my high school we did not have books but tablet computers. On them were our books and we could write on the screens to take notes. Many older generations, like my parents, believe this makes young people lazy-, which I completely disagree with. Many teachers think that digital art is easier than drawing something, once again I disagree. These creative thinkers prove through their work with gadgets that computer generated projects can be just as thought provoking and personal as something “hand made.”
For my seventh World Changing response I read the last article of the book, “Imagining the Future” under the “Planet” section. I think it is ironic I read the last one for my last regular response, minus the two ones I will do for extra credit. This article was surprisingly optimistic. I thought it would be like “you better fix stuff now or we are all screwed.” Instead it was saying today’s problems are not insurmountable and we should not despair but imagine a better future starting with out own lives. Since “sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” I guess that makes sense like, no crying over spilt milk. Crying and complaining isn’t going to solve our problems. The first step is to be optimistic. We do not have to start out trying to solve the world but start with ourselves and our own daily lives and builds from that. The books message is, “Imagine a better future. Find your allies. Share tools. Build it. Start now.” This message should be repeated at the beginning also because it creates context and really sets a positive mood for the book, unlike Collapse which comes out swinging. The tools to solve our problems are at our hands or can be made through collaboration. I truly believe we can solve the problems we make.
ReplyDeleteShelter (p.139) had very optimistic opinion about the future coming. The writer, especially, talked about the “homes” that we usually think emotionally---“a magnificent meal prepared in the kitchen, a child’s first steps across the living room, a basement that always gives us the shivers”. The amount of the emotion gets added up as we live in a home longer. So, we tend to forget about all the ways we continue to interact with and depend on the services.
ReplyDeleteHowever, a home is a tool. The tool doesn’t provide good things all the time. They waste energy and water, lack safety and comfort, and are often made from materials whose production has huge environmental and social consequences.
Good ways to solve these “tools’” problems are upcoming. New technologies are beginning to allow us to create buildings of a whole new stamp.
Through the whole course, I have heard many bad things that many people put as habit of ruining the environment, society, and resources, that human are going to the wrong way. I did not have any hope for the “better” world like Derrick Jenson talked in his speech. His words “no hope” shocked me because I never thought we were that bad. I thought some of us might have ruined the world, but there were good amount of people that tried not to harm the world and support the “better green” world. I thought the world is going to end very soon.
World Changing 2- Bright Green Consumerism (p.81)- This piece talks about how a green idea can successfully make it to the consumers. It gives an example of a green golf ball cleaning machine that uses less energy but costs more at first, and how there are so many people in the process that effect whether or not the green option will have a chance.
ReplyDeleteHe ends up saying that the golf course manager's are the people with the most impact in the end. And while i understand the idea they are promoting, that for green to make it we the consumers have to CHOOSE it, this whole idea and process still buys into the another major problem with our country and civilization, Consumerism! I also understand that neither of these idealized societies we strive for, one of no consumerism and one that is wholly eco-friendly, are changes we can make quickly and so to help the world and our society NOW we do the small tasks that work with in the corrupt systems we've developed. Although, this article may please those who are scrambling around trying to save the environment it probably displeases those that are try to rebel against our numbing consumerist culture.
Understanding Trade pg. 39
ReplyDeleteThis is not the first time I’ve read about trade with China. I spent roughly two semesters studying economic models and how they applied to China’s trade tactics. There is an incredibly fascinating transformation taking place in China in regards to their economy, and the United States and the rest of the world are paying close attention, or they need to be anyway. The transformation is rapid and unstable, and what ever becomes of China will undoubtedly impact the entire world. This article also brings up an interesting point about globalization. Personally, I feel that there will be people who will be exploited in the process but ultimately everyone will end up better than they were. Perhaps this is naively optimistic, but it doesn’t suit the world to have an all-powerful elite population being supported by an impoverished majority. For one, that is an incredible waste of human capital: people need education and/or training to work more lucrative and productive careers instead of labor-intensive dead-end jobs. Also, it just seems morally wrong to let this scenario play out. Whether or not morality will be a concern is a question mark.
Consuming Responsibly pg. 35
This article brings up points about what makes a product less impactful on the environment. As a consumer, I feel lost and ignorant about what I should buy if I want to support sustainable manufacturing. The companies are trying to make money and from what I’ve gathered from this article and points made in lecture and discussion, I am going to have to utilize an extraordinary amount of scrutiny to segregate legitimate and false “green” products. Why should it have to be so much work to sort through the noise of advertisements and claims? It is already annoying enough that the things we buy cost significantly more on the shelf than what they cost to manufacture.
Cars and Fuel pg. 74
I am not too sure how applicable this article is to my particular situation, but I am interested in seeing a glimpse into the future of cars and transportation. In this current system, I find it difficult to get a license and have the confidence to drive among the large vehicles. Nowadays I am irritated with every SUV I see. They are huge and burn an absurd amount of fuel, intimidating, and they are for the most part just as functional as a regular sized car in this flat region. Simply, I find them to be very worthless vehicles unless if the owner is using the size for practical uses and not exclusively for appeal. I am somewhat terrified of the idea of making my own fuel. More specifically, I am terrified of making my own fuel exclusively from a recipe and without any prior knowledge how the process should work. It is an interesting notion though, having the power to fuel your own transportation. My trusty Trike, though its manufacturing was hardly “eco-friendly”, is more fuel efficient than the options presented in the article. All it takes is my caloric input, which I am more than happy to exhaust. I’ve got a surplus that I can’t seem to give away much less spend up.
World Changing 3- The Solar System: Greens in Space- The thought here is that exploring our solar system and how similar planets have evolved and currently work will help us better understand our own planet much much better. WHICH I COMPLETELY agree with! It's like putting our Planet into context. You can't understand it without knowing how it's similar or different from it's peers. How it came to be and how solar systems work in general so that we may one day understand what may come of our own solar system. Research is becoming more accessible to scientists and even to normal civilians with a knack for adventure and with a wad of cash to blow! The more we find out about our extended surroundings the deeper we can get into understanding how our planet works.
ReplyDeleteFor my world changing response, the first article that I read was the Bright Green Computers on p34.
ReplyDeleteIt talks about computer technologies that have developed but needs more electricity power to power up the computers. Also it states how manufacturing a computer produces tremendous amount of waste. When I read this section first image that came up to my mind was the image of cell phone trash. Even though technologies have been developed, but not much technologies have been developed to dispose all the wastes that are produced everyday. As wastes are problem, people have been developing computers that can be recycled and parts that can be reusable.
Hewlett Packard is offering recycling for old computers and is looking forward to this new style of producing electronics. Also most brand-name manufacturers are looking forward to making cheaper machines that can be reused, reconfigured or upgraded.
As I am interested in architectural buildings, for my second world changing response, I have read Building a Green Home on p 147.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that the author talks about is how solar technologies are merging with highly evolved technological tools to produce more compact and functional fossil fuel-free power sources. Buildings take up 50% of energy consumption in the United States and by making homes that can run with only solar energy, it will definitely reduce consumption of electricity and gas.
The Zero Energy House, built by Zoka Zola, on Adam Street of Chicago is a terrific example of a completely self-sufficient house that generates 100% of its own power on-site through solar and wind energy. The house looks as if it is one with nature with trees and grasses that cover up the house. It looks very stylish yet arrogant, which makes me wonder why people would not want these kinds of houses.
The author also states things about smart home technology, prefab house, and bright house. These technologies, when it is developed fully, will definitely make people save much energy overtime. However, it should be developed in short period of time to slow down the pollution and consumption level.
For my third world changing response, I have chosen Conserving Water on p187.
ReplyDeleteWater is something that is essential in our lives; however, because water pollution is getting worse and worse, water shortage is a problem now days. The most direct way for any of us to confront the water crisis is to use less water. How we can make this happen is to install the right technologies.
There are technologies such as low-flow water fixtures, recycling shower, and reHOUSE/BATH. Recycling shower is a technology developed, in which as water runs, the water-saving shower immediately recycles what runs down the drain, cleaning it and sending it back through the showerhead. The first thought was that if solar technology and water-saving shower technology are added together, the amount of water and energy that we can save will be tremendous.
World Changing 4– Tools for Talking / Spreading the Power of Café Conversation (Pg431 – 432)
ReplyDeleteThe idea presented in these pieces is that great things start by thoughts, and become reality by taking them from a thought, to words, to action. Thoughts are stimulated by the gathering of people and the exchanging of ideas. I think of this as brainstorming. The article talks about in history how some places are famous for their use in this regard, for example a café in Prague where reformers would meet to keep the fight against the communists alive and support each other, exchange ideas and spread the word. To me that reminds me of the Roman Forum and also how Universities came to be. So the point is that with the internet, and other technology advancements, the ability to exchange ideas and grow new ways of thinking and doing things has exploded as the world is more or less one community in thought and word. The Café Conversation idea takes the internet and uses it to make available to people everywhere the ability to find common topics of interest and to schedule meetings and set methods for common and constructive exchange of ideas. I find this to be a very truthful insite. I know when with my friends and the ideas begin to flow that they go in places none of us every expected and can result in a change in the way all of us think. Or at least an expansion of our thinking and horizons. That is also why I like thought out and presented ideas in any format, whether I agree with them or not. They always expand my perceptions of the world and thought processes.
World Changing 5 – Worldchanging Water Pumps (Page 192)
ReplyDeleteThis piece is about how poor areas of the world, far from good power and piped-in water supplies and equipment can find better ways to get their water out of the ground or river. So they have given us two examples of pumps that are human powered. One is powered by human feet and the other is powered by a merry-go-round for kids. The first is supposed to pump water into fields for irrigation, and the other up into a tower for any use when needed. These are great ideas. The human work involved in pulling up buckets of water over and over again by hand is a terrible burden to most of the villages without electricity. This would give them more water to use, increasing farming area to make more food. Plus one uses the energy in children’s play for good purpose. I think these are great ideas and the people that think of them are doing wonders for humanity. Somehow we need to find ways to get everyone thinking of how to fix these simple but important problems in the world. If everyone focused on thinking up one idea a month, we would probably be a lot better off than we are now. But someone has to list the problems that need solving so we know what to focus on.
Worldchanging 6– Thinking Differently About Water / The Soft Path (Pgs 189 – 190)
ReplyDeleteThinking Differently About Water and The Soft Path introduce new ideas about water and how we think about it. The first part is a discussion about how we think about water, or maybe how we don’t really think about water. We are so lucky in the US to have clean, cheap water at the touch of our hand all over our homes. And even more so in the Great Lakes area as I know that in the west and southwest US there is much more awareness that this is a limited resource. We tend to take our clean water supply in our homes for granted. But the truth is that we are overusing the water supply and in the process using up much more energy than we need to by pumping, treating, and dispensing all that extra water. The Soft Path talks about how we can come from new approaches to managing water smartly either by the Hard Path which is equipment, infrastructure, and treatment or by the Soft Path with is by using water with more care and thought. They say that we need to think of water as a service instead of a commodity and that will allow us more tools for managing it wisely. I agree that when you think about it, at least for me, that water is not something I typically think about as a cost, or related to wasted energy and resources, or that I should be careful of how much I use. I always think of how water relates to the environment strictly in a pollution control and reduction basis. This article gave me a lot of food for thought.
World changing 7– Doing The Right Thing Can Be Delicious / Slow Food (Pgs 51 – 52)
ReplyDeleteThese articles discuss how food supply has grown and yet not solved all our food related problems in the world and even created new ones. I was shocked that in the US we produce twice the amount of food needed to feed everyone in our county yet there are still millions that go hungry every day (equivelant to the population of Canada!) And that worldwide 16,000 kids die daily of lack of food or related illnesses. The paradox is that in the last 100 years, the science associated with maximizing crop yield has resulted in an explosion in food supply, at least here. But apparently its just not getting to the right places. In addition, a lot of the advances include massive use of pesticides and herbicides which are accumulating in our bodies. The other problems include agricultural pollution of the land and water by all the chemical additions and the waste from livestock, plus greenhouse gas emissions from farming processes. And finally, the whole thing uses ten times more calories to make the food than is in the food. That does not sound sustainable. So the next part, the Slow Food article talked about how with the overabundance of food and the development of Fast Food which is typically high in calorie and low in health, much of the world (and especially in the US) is growing incredibly obese (while the other part is starving) and developing huge health issues. The Slow Food movement was started in protest to the negative impacts of the Fast Food movement and includes the idea that if we go back to making our own food and savoring the shopping for and use of local, organic goods we will come back to a more natural and healthy state, support our local farmers, and even enjoy the taste of real food again and eliminate all the negative issues with fast food and industrial farming. I agree with the thinking on this, but it is hard for me to imagine giving up fast food as the convenience of it is so tempting. I know I could MAKE time to cook, but … at this point in my life, I just would rather spend that time on other things. I know that is a bad answer, but it is VERY hard to change that habit.
World changing 8- Picking Green Materials (Page 87)
ReplyDeleteThe premise of this discussion was that there are no “sustainable” materials and that all materials must be evaluated in context to their application and ability to be sustainable over their full lifecycle. They don’t use the term “lifecycle analysis” in this essay, but that is kind of the point. For sure there are some materials we just should not use or should only be used in a very limited basis. I would think that something like mercury would fall into that category, a material that probably cannot at this time be completely eliminated from use, but can be reduced to very very limited uses where critical. For all the other materials, you have to see what are the options for each need and look at the use of the materials under consideration from start to finish. Can we reuse it so we can reduce the total amount needed, what do we do with it when its done (can it be reused, biodegraded, recycled, reclaimed…), and how much energy and resources are we using to make it, reuse it, and dispose or it. That is why “lifecycle analysis” popped into my head when reading this. It is a very smart article and addresses something that irks me very often; which is when people jump on the “environmental” bandwagon for certain issues without any real knowledge or in depth thought of how things work or how they are affecting the environment overall from resource to waste.
Art Meets Technology pg. 96
ReplyDeleteThis article makes the connection between Art and Technology and how they both have the ability to be totally relevant to issues in or society. In this way I was reminded of a guest we had in our CFC class. He was architect/industrial designer whose furniture incorporated elements of technology into the form of the piece. He felt that this marriage between art and technology was necessary in developing furniture in an age where progression is totally dictated by technology.
The article makes the point that Art is unlike many other things in that it can be totally relevant to the times. This is important because artists are able to not only comment on technology, but utilize it as a tool within their work. Here we see the roll of the artist becoming increasingly more important; a piece of effective art will prompt more reflection in spectators than a 200 page paper.
For my fourth world changing response I have chosen to read Brands on p 393.
ReplyDeleteBrand values are something that attracts consumers and make them want to by from that brand. Abrams in his book states, "If the twentieth century was about corporations learning how to use their brand identity to influence consumer choice, the twernty-first century is shaping up to be about consumers learning how brand strategies work, and using there awarness to put a stop to bad corporate behavior"(393 abrams).I disagree to his opinion in that even now people put there focus more on which brand the product is from. I am not saying that this is wrong, but think that people should focus more on having some knowledges on what the life cycle of the product they use.
Abrams also talks about brands that does not lable themselves. One example is the Japaness company Mujirushi Ryohin, known as Muji. They make products with no distinguishing markings, logos, or trademarks. Even though this company by labeling themselves as "unbrand" makes them unique and recognizable, they satisfy customers' increasing desire to avoid aligning themselves with questionable brands, while meeting the growing demand for environmental consideration in manufacturing.
Healing Polluted Lands pg. 250
ReplyDeleteIn an architecture class I took last semester we learned about the effects of “suburban sprawl”, and just how inefficient a suburb actually is. This article points to suburbia as one of the most detrimental housing concepts, and notes that density is inherently more efficient than sprawl. However, growing up in the suburbs outside Detroit defiantly gives me some perspective on why people find this kind of lifestyle appealing. The cookie-cutter-McMansion-style homes are the main features of these suburbs, and for those who buy into this lifestyle they act more as status symbols than a home built for a specific set of needs. I also believe that people find the uniformity of these homes to be comforting, in a sense it is reassurance that they fit in with everyone else.
I find the idea of ‘bioremediation’ quite intriguing, specifically if it was implemented in some form of public art. Here we could see artists becoming important not only in their ability to captivate and inform, but also to provide a solution for the problem from which their work is derived.
Greening Infrastructure pg. 254
ReplyDeleteMore and more we are beginning to see plant-life incorporated into architectural building processes. Often I find these implementations of nature into the building process to be quite intriguing, not just because how cheap they are to implement, but also because it seems like it gets closer to closing the loop on how materials are used. The article gives the example of the bio-filter, a four story living wall that acts as an air purification system. Not only does it cleanse the air, it requires no chemical cleaning products, thereby making it an investment that will pay off over time.
As it is today, placing ‘living’ walls within a building may be met with skepticism by some, but this can be attributed to the fact that these building practices are not yet common place. Once these processes become more widely accepted we can expect to see more frequent use of natural materials, but innovations that will utilize a plants natural strengths in ways current man made materials are unable to do.
For my fifth world changin response I have chosen to read Greening Infrastructure on p 254.
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about how most cities were once farmland that had rich soil, good fishing spot, and abundance of water, but now these cities degenerate nature that is around. The price tag for rebuilding urban infrastructure is not small, but the cost of maintaining the systems we now use is pretty huge over the long haul.
Abrams gives some ideas on the improvement the people can make and one idea that I really like is the Green Roofs. By putting a garden on top of the unused space of the buildings in the cities, it not only cools a cuilding, but also absorbs harmful UV rays that damage exterior surfaces. It is also not very costly to maintain the garden on top of the buildings. Also, it can give people in the cities a place to rest when they are dizzy with all the new technologiese that are around them. With such small change on a building, much of the environmental issues can be solved and this is what makes this idea very interesting and worth making it.
Things like changing the color of the surfaces of the buildings to white can make the environment much cooler as hot sunshine turn black rooftops into a radiant heaters. Little by little, cities can change which would definitely help the environment in the longterm.
For my sixth world changing response, I have chosen to read Green Power on p 170.
ReplyDeleteFossil fuels are now being depleted as time passes and people are looking for new energy sources. Energy that can replace fossil fuels is green power. A popular myth holds that renewable power is always more expensive than fossil-fuel power; however, that is not true. Under right conditions, power plants can generate electricity as cheap as the cheapest energy source around-coal. Another myth is that renewable energy sources cannot provide power reliably. It is true that photovoltaics are ineffective at night, and wind turbines are nonproductive in still air, but when used together, alternative energy sources can deliver a steady flow of power. It will take some more time to get these ideas to be spread out and make people believe that green power sources are well developed and is ready to be used in daily life. However, when these power sources are used later in the future, environmental pollution will be reduced and more energy would be produced infinitely.
China is an example of a country that have really gotten green power sources to work for them. China have been producing three hundred megawatts worth of photovoltaics every year. With renewable resources being developed, world would develope into a more clean place.
For my seventh world changing response, I have chosen to read Big Green Buildings and Skyscrapers on p 245.
ReplyDeleteIn urban places there are many skyscrapers, but we don't look at these big buildings with much interest. What if building looked different from what the other buildings around look like? One skyscraper that took my interest is the Swiss Re Headquarters in London. This building is encased in a structural skin of aluminium, steel, and glass, which blurs the boundaries between roof and wall and increases energy efficiency by eliminating wasted space. What interests me is the exterior look of the building. It spirals up as it reaches the sky. This design reduces the need for forced air and AC, saving energy. These kind of buildings will be hard to come up with as it is environmental friendly and also looks stylish. However, with much of these buildings world can be changed in looks and a lot of energy can be saved.
This is my first World Changing response. I read the Leapfrogging article. Leapfrogging is skipping the outdated modes of technology for new ones. The article explains how third world countries, including Kenya, have adapted this to such technologies as cell phones. I remember briefly discussing this in class. It seems to be of great use for countries who before hand had little communication out of their community. A great aspect of technology is when it can be used to economically help poor countries or communities. I often take for granted how simple it is to contact someone on the phone. In an instant I can contact them, but not little over a decade ago this would would have been more difficult. The closing passages of the article talked about Kenyans' using cell phones to transfer electronic currencies. I suppose instead of carrying around cash. It seems more and more our world is getting smaller.
ReplyDeleteSecond World Changing. I read the article titled Movement Building. It was about societal changes through groups working for change. It said optimism is key for change to occur because it gives an individual or individuals power to act for something better. It reminded me of the recent election of President Obama. During and especially after his election as president the media and people began to think maybe change is possible, both economically and socially. Look at Obama's campaign the main slogans were HOPE and CHANGE. Time will tell if his election has and will boost confidence in the nation to move forward in certain areas. In the article they mentioned the abolitionist movement in England which I did not know much about. It was interesting to hear that artist Josiah Wedgwood contributed through his depictions of slavery helped abolish slavery. This is one way art can impact and speak to a much larger crowd. One question the article posed was "which of today's practices and beliefs might be considered barbaric and inconceivable from now?" I hope that the distribution of wealth between rich and poor countries would be received as inconceivable, as it should be in the present. This goes along with distribution of wealth, but cheap labor is also a problem and very degrading, it is slavery.
ReplyDeleteThird World Changing. Sustainable Forestry is a fairly new idea. It involves looking more closely at ways we can receive lumber from trees without ruining the environment and keeping the lumbering business economically stable. This I know is an important reality that should be in practice in every country. The article referenced NYC as using the Catskills as sustainable logging area. The city has funded more than five hundred forest-management plans covering 94,000 acres. This was a little surprising to me because when I think of NYC I do not usually think of an environment friendly city, but it was good to hear none the less. The article also goes on to comment on the importance of wild fires. Before much was known settlers tried to combat these fires which in some cases only gave birth to worst affects. Well how does all of this relate to me. Well indirectly I am affected by these processes. I have seen these techniques also quite frequently in the past year. I have seen them at the national parks, even Nichols Arboretum set fire to part of their prairie field, and quite frequently I see the news covering the wild fires out west.
ReplyDeleteFourth World Changing. Healing Polluted Land is another world changing topic. As industries have closed more and more abandoned lots and buildings fill our urban areas. We as students at UofM live near Detroit which has many abandoned buildings. The article presented ways these lands could be incorporated back into the environment safely. Bio-remediation is one solution where plants remove the toxins from the polluted areas cleaning the areas. The article also said you can clean the areas, but you don't need to erase the past. I thought this was true why not use what is already there that is able to use. The book gave the example of the Duisburg Nord park in Germany which was previously a brownfield, but now is a park with remnants of its past. In my hometown along the Detroit river is a huge abandoned steel plant which to my view looks unused. It would be a tremendous financial burden to knock down the place, but it doesn't have to be. In fact the geometry and glass windows of the plant is not that bad looking. It is an area of discussion that southeastern Michigan should be looking into more frequently.
ReplyDeleteThe article ‘Designing a Sustainable World’ in Worldchanging outlines our interaction with design. For the most part I found this article to be a very accurate depiction of what design is, while also discussing a concept I, myself, have come to focus my designs upon. This concept is called the “Viridian Design Manifesto” which I was never aware existed yet share the same ideas with. The manifesto basically appeals for “intensely glamorous environmentally designed products” which would create products irresistible to consumers and ultimately establish a market that makes unsustainable design out of fashion.
ReplyDeleteIt is so great to have read this “manifesto” because it is exactly what I strive to achieve in my work, yet much more eloquently stated. I’m glad I came across this article because I’ve been trying to define the ideals I shape my furniture design around and this article really brought light to what it is I feel so passionate about.
In the Worldchanging’s article ‘Craft it yourself’ I found the topic of DIY design to quite interesting since it is a large part of modern furniture design today. DIY design stands for do-it-yourself designs that people craft out of already existing objects. Lately, I have seen so many blogs dedicated solely to this type of design. Some of the furniture that is being created out of ordinary junk is absolutely amazing. Several designs I have come across have really made an impression on me. Some of which are; an arm chair completely assembled out of rifle bullets, a Recliner made from old CD’s, and chandelier created from plastic and wire hangers. These designs are great because they are creative, innovative, and well made. The only danger of DIY design are the bad ones. The bad ones are those that lack creativity or quality craftsmanship. Unfortunately, these designs also have the ability to stick out, and for every good design there are two bad ones. DIY it producing some great pieces, I just hope the bad designs don’t create a tacky stereotype for the entire movement.
ReplyDeleteThe article ‘Engineer it Yourself’ discussed the fall of tinkerers and inventors in the US. This is actually something I have never noticed, yet am surrounded by everyday. Being an art student, I am aware of the mechanics behind things and have become quite skilled with my hands. Yet, I often wonder what I will do with these skills once I enter the work force. As a furniture design student knowing how to weld and use power tools are great skills to fabricate my designs, but once I graduate and hold a position as a furniture designer I will no longer be asked to create prototypes or construct the pieces I design. I will be stuck behind a drafting board, sketching my ideas and eventually handing them off to a model maker who will prepare my designs for mass production. This concept comes back to the way we rely on ‘experts’. Even though I will be an extremely well rounded furniture designer and constructor, I will only be asked to know one of them. Essentially, I will become furniture design ‘expert’ sand noting more. I feel that there is something very wrong with this system because it creates very limited design solutions. If a furniture designer doesn’t know how to weld, how will he or she know what can or cannot be welded? Its as if this system is set up to keep us ignorant.
ReplyDeleteFifth World Changing. Seeing The Big Picture, how do we as citizens understand bigger information mostly controlled and run by corporations or governments? This is a question Culture Jam was bringing up throughout the whole book. How do we connect with issues that are often so specialized to certain individuals such as specialists? It is often very hard to and demands much research. The article though presents the idea of representing data in a simple way even through such means as smiley faces. Creating images or simplified data can solve most peoples problems of understanding the situations. This is most crucial for us artists/designers to take advantage of our creative ability to express and connect this data to larger audiences. A member of our discussion group Eli just recently worked on a project that incorporated these ideas of simplifying information. He created symbols for areas around his city which represented what was environmentally friendly and what was not. Such projects can improve and bring awareness to things which are often unknown to the general public.
ReplyDeleteSixth World Changing. The Future of Food. What is the future of food? As we have talked about in class rapid production of food is taking place on industrial farms which don't allow enough time for healthy products. In the article it points to the fact that many of the industry farms are destroying the topsoil which has the nutrients we need. This yearly plowing creates soil erosion which is not good. We need to get back to how nature farms says the article. Smart breeding is one solution that can help create genetically better foods which is similar to the process of traditional breeding. The article suggest getting back to heirloom plants that are native to the environment and weather can help improve the soil. Our society is continually in a fast pace, but time and care is needed to effectively produce good food. It is amazing to think that we are so separated from the land that feeds us which should have all our focus and attention.
ReplyDeleteFor this World Changing response, I read the section entitled “Biomimicry” on page 99. I have heard the word biomimicry used before, but I never had any idea what it referred to. After learning what it means, I am very interested in the concept and have a desire to learn more about it. Biomimicry is basically the act of applying phenomena found in nature to human technology or design practices. For example, the people who invented Velcro modeled it after burrs sticking to animal’s fur. I think that modeling technology after nature makes so much sense, and it surprises me that scientists and designers haven’t been doing this all along. Nature has had millions of years to evolve and develop processes that meet specific needs, so why not borrow ideas from it? Humans continue to try to create artificial responses to various dilemmas, but isn’t it much easier to just mimic technology already developed in nature? I think that we could improve upon a vast amount of processes and products if we simply looked to these already-existing systems for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThis World Changing response is on “Retrofitting the Suburbs,” on page 238. I have lived in the suburbs for the majority of my life, and I have formulated an opinion about them that I think many of my suburban friends share. Suburbs are often insular and tend to foster close-mindedness; there is both a physical and an ideological division between suburbs and their urban counterparts. The book refers to the unsustainable aspects of suburbs: the scale of sprawl increases the need for people to own automobiles rather than walk or bike from place to place. In addition, when shopping malls, big box stores, and other large retail centers die out (which they are increasingly doing), they leave huge “greyfield” expanses in their wake – areas of empty asphalt parking lots and ugly buildings. People are addressing these issues by converting greyfields into new community-friendly town centers, which is causing suburban residents to get out of their houses, schools, and workplaces, and get more involved in their community. We hear a lot about the current revitalization and growth of urban cities, but I think the point the book makes about the restructuring of suburbs is important, too; as negative as they seem, suburbs are here to stay, and we might as well do what we can to improve them.
ReplyDeleteThe next section I read is “Vancouver” (p. 231). This caught my eye because my friend moved to Vancouver two years ago, and I got a chance to visit him there this past summer. I absolutely fell in love with the area – the city itself is a perfect mix of natural and urban elements, and is full of life; the suburbs are quaint and people-friendly, and you can go from the harbor to the beach to the mountains with ease. In addition, it is a meltingpot of cultures; everywhere you go, you hear a multitude of languages, and a huge variety of ethnic restaurants populate the neighborhoods. I was able to bikeride a lot while I was there, and I witnessed how bike-friendly the city is. The public transit system is extremely successful as well, and I was happy to read that city council members are taking more measures to decrease automobile usage. It was interesting to read about the Southeast False Creek development; I was not aware of it when I was there but it sounds like a great project. I did see evidence of the “building up” rather than out – apartments are abundant, and space is utilized very well throughout the city. Additionally, the book talks about the sustainability of the UBC campus, which is where my friend attends school. I think that many cities could benefit, and in turn improve the global environmental situation, by modeling themselves off of Vancouver.
ReplyDeleteFor this World Changing response, I read “The Hidden Vitality of Slums” on page 286. I found it fascinating to learn about some of the inner workings of slums and squatter villages. I was surprised to learn of the abundance of squatters in the world: almost one in six people on the planet, and a projected 1/3 by 2050. It makes sense; our population is increasing, and money available for housing is being depleted. I found it interesting that the book highlighted the positive aspects of squatter communities, because they are usually portrayed in a negative light. It gave examples of a few slums in different countries whose citizens are working to improve their living conditions and the infrastructures of their towns. It was nice to read that squatter communities in Turkey can petition the federal government to recognize it as a legal municipality. This allows people on the fringes of society to actually have a voice in their community, which is definitely a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteFor my last World Changing response, I read the section entitled “Biodiversity: How Much Nature Is Enough?” on page 491. We have discussed the subject of biodiversity in lectures, but this section gave a more in-depth view of its ramifications. I found it very interesting to read about the inability for cloned songbirds to sing because their singing traits are acquired environmentally rather than genetically. However, I found the concept of getting extinct animals tattooed on our bodies as a way to remember them to be strange and ineffective – it doesn’t do anything to actually alleviate the problem, and tattooing in itself is not environmentally friendly, so I was surprised to read this.
ReplyDeleteSeventh World Changing. Thriving In A Bright Green Economy. Businesses now more than ever face tough challenges. The new innovations in technology are changing things are getting quicker and quicker. The article listed five examples of how businesses can achieve success. Anticipation, transparency, collaboration, long term planning, and vision are the keys to success. I don't even see this just applying to business, but also anybody looking for success. Anticipating change, looking for efficiency in energy will lead to success in many ways. Transparency shows your loyalty to communities which will definitely drive success. Collaboration with others adds more insight and creative ideas. Long term planning is planning for a long time instead of reaching for short term profit. Vision is knowing where you are going and what is your purpose. All these elements make sense to me, but some companies probably don't follow them. It is even more prevalent for the Detroit area with the automotive industry which if it wants to succeed will have to follow these elements.
ReplyDeleteOn page 339 of World Changing, I read an article about Urban Community Development. It began by taking about each city’s individuality, character, and presence. This was tied into social, economic, and environmental ties as well. In order to find the solutions to problems in our community, we have to look deeper and find why and where this derived from. The South Bronx, for example was known as one of the biggest dumping grounds in the nation. Now people are trying to change that, something the author describes as ‘green the ghetto’ in order to stop the amount of waste that goes into the land. Even giant garbage trucks put a huge imprint on the land, while bikes and walking are much more environmentally friendly. One of the problems is that poorer communities have some of the worst environmental problems, and it takes a lot of money to fix it. Everything needs money, it’s just a question of how much and how soon for it to be obtained. The author is suggesting that we see urban planning as a whole, by looking at the entire region and community areas. Some argue that this is not an ecological problem, it’s a moral issue. If we take from the environment, it is our responsibility to give back. Unfortunately what we have given back to the environment has been leading to its downfall: pollution, waste, extinction, etc. If communities start working together, a huge difference can be made in society and the world as a whole.
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