Design 127: Environmental Consciousness

I found this product on www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com. The product is a chair called the FlexibleLove 16 Chair, and is made entirely of recycled paper and wood. The designers used a honeycomb accordian technique to create this chair so that in its collapsed form it can fit one, but if you stretched it to its full length, it can fit 16 people (4000+ lb). I like this chair because you can easily share this experience with your friends and family. When this chair is produced, it is useful for more than one way and its function is quite flexible. You can pull it out and arrange it into interesting curves so that it’s not just in a bench shape. Even though you can visibly see the wood and paper, its function really shows that it is a high-end product.

(Homework assignments count for 20% of your grade)

1–Make a minimum of 5 sketches of ideas for project #2; you may combine the materials or use them separately. Explore the use of more than one material in your sketches.

2–Find one “green product” on the web and write a paragraph about it: describe it and why you like it. Post it on Alan Wells’ del.icio.us bookmark sharing/tagging site after you receive his e-mail giving directions about it. We will keep adding to this all quarter. The list can be viewed at: http://del.icio.us/des127

3– read “Learning Deficiency” in Reader pp. 111-112 and write the answers to the following questions: .
a–The author asserts that design schools haven’t incorporated sustainable design into their curriculum. In his opinion, what are the reasons that hamper the teaching of sustainability at the college level?
b–the author asserts that sustainability as “best design practice” is broadly applicable across design disciplines, and that integrating this model into design education is not especially hard. What are the specific changes he suggests?
c—in the middle column of p. 112 , the author says that “design must play a leading role” in changing the way we think about the world–how can design do that?
d- -the author lists a number of requirements for design programs to incorporate sustainability into the curriculum; what are they, and what is the educational challenge of doing this?

4–Read pp. 132-136 in Reader (plastic bag re-use)

5–Buy the Reader at Navins Copy Shop, and Cradle to Cradle and Kontakt Kleber glue (MU Art Dept.)
BRING READER TO EVERY CLASS!

6–How many of you carry a re-usable plastic water bottle? If you do, bring it to class Mon. (but don’t buy one)

This is the site you’ll use to post all your reading links and summaries. By using this site, we’ll create a searchable record of the things we talk about this quarter, as well as create a place to comment and share resources and ideas.

• Looking for sustainable design resources on the web? Check out the links section on the right side
• Read the posts below to learn how to create your account and start posting
• If you have problems, questions, or comments about the site, send me an email or just post an entry with your question.

Welcome to the DES 127 Blog! Follow these instructions to create your account.

1. Click the Register link on the bottom right, under the Site Options.
2. For your username, enter: first_last (where first = your first name and last = your last name, for me this is alan_wells)
3. Enter your UC Davis email address into the email field.
4. Click the Register button.
5. You will be emailed your username and password. Check your email and locate your password.
6. Login using your username and the password emailed to you.

If you want to change your password to something easier to remember, click the Profile button and use the Update Your Password field.

Follow these steps to post an entry on the class blog:

1. Create an account if you haven’t already.
2. If you’re not logged into your account yet, click the Login link under Site Options. If you’re already logged in, this link will show Logout instead. Don’t logout.
3. Logging in should take to the Control Panel automatically. If you’re already logged in and reading the blog, just click Site Admin under Site Options.
4. The main page of the control panel is called the Dashboard. From here you can easily create a new post by clicking on the Write a post link.
5. Enter at title for your post
6. Type your summary in the Post box
7. To add a link, highlight a word and click the Link (looks like a chain) button.
8. If you’re comfortable with HTML, you can click the Code button and use HTML tags in your post
9. Check any relevant categories from the list on the right
10. If you’re ready to post your entry, hit the Publish button
11. If you want to save what you’ve written without publishing right away, click the Save button. The draft of your post will be available by clicking on the Manage tab.

We’ve created a DES127 account with del.icio.us, a bookmark sharing and tagging tool. You can view the bookmarks at http://del.icio.us/des127. We hope that you’ll not only use this resource, but also add to it with your bookmarks as you find them. To add to the bookmarks list, login with:

username: des127

password: spring07

If you’ve never used del.icio.us, the Getting Started page would be a great place to begin.