Upcycling Systems Design, Developing a Methodology through Design

Spyros Bofylatos

doi:10.3390/su14020600

Abstract

Design has an important role in shaping the modes of production, consumption and disposal. Decisions made early in the product, service and system development influence the majority of the environmental impact and social consequences. With sustainability emerging as the major challenge of our times, the creation of novel methodologies, economic models and innovative materials is critical. In this paper, we put forward a new methodology that aims to bridge the ecomodernist business-focused circular economy models with the expressive material driven design (MDD) approach. The ‘design out waste methodology’ (DOWM) bridges existing concepts, methods and practices, creating an innovative design and production process that redefines waste and sets it up as a subject of creative study. The purpose of this process is to help designers understand the importance of evaluating the entire life cycle of a product; it also enables local ‘degrowth’ by shifting our modes of production towards a human scale with local makers exchanging knowledge and expressing themselves through upcycled materials, while simultaneously eradicating the very concept of waste. The methodology has been developed in an iterative research-through-design process that combines experiential and tacit knowledge from local case studies with desk research of emerging case studies in MDD.

Highlights

Since the industrial revolution, humanity has adopted a utilitarian view of the environment, seeing it as a means of economic growth, a provider of infinite resources and an endless space for discarding our waste
We focused on how to embody internal meanings in a material and how to design a material that transforms the materials around it
The idea that one linear solution address the problems associated with it is part of the problem

Summary

Introduction

Humanity has adopted a utilitarian view of the environment, seeing it as a means of economic growth, a provider of infinite resources and an endless space for discarding our waste. Products have become part of a throwaway culture, creating waste at every step of their lifecycle, from the acquisition of virgin materials to production and disposal. This throwaway culture and planned obsolescence [1] have created mountains of trash that poison our air, ground, and waterways, putting the existence of life on the planet in danger. The difficulty of each transition towards a carbon neutral system is exponentially harder than the previous one [2]

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Conclusion