Given financial support from the Charles Center at the College of William and Mary (Virginia, USA), in the form of a Monroe Scholarship, I had the opportunity to develop my own summer research project. Having interests in science, art, and eco-consciousness (among many other interests really), I felt the project was a perfect chance to investigate a field which could unite them together: sustainable design.
Allow me to expand:
I am a Physics major. This entails a great amount of time solving math problems and generally being confused (though when I do finally start to get it, it is rather enjoyable). But I realized that my personality desires tangible results - which are fulfilled by artistic endeavors.
I am a Studio Art minor, in particular sculpture. [I've included an image of some sea turtles I've sculpted - they are bronze, and not really very green in their production]. I realized that the process of creating something was incredibly important to me, so I feel that after university, I will likely go into something closer to engineering and design.
I have always had eco-friendliness in the back of my mind, growing up as a big tree climber and out-doorsy person. As I develop my sense of personhood and identity, I realized that I need to integrate that appreciation and respect for nature actively into my life. And so I focused my project onto designers interested in issues of sustainable living and eco-conscious practices.
So that's the beginning of the shaping of the project. I wasn't too sure how to investigate 'eco-design' or 'sustainable design.' I was going to be abroad Spring semester (this past spring that is), studying at the University of St. Andrews. With this in mind, I figured: I'll be over there. Europe is reputedly more eco-conscious than the U.S. Maybe I can find a design school with short courses. That was found at Central St. Martins (London University of the Arts). In the end, these classes didn't end up being taken (mainly because the ones in product design were too late, and I would be returning to the U.S. before they started, but also because of the oh-so-glorious exchange rate from dollar to pound). But London was the destination, and as it turns out, a good choice, as there is plenty going on in the sustainable design field there (well, really here - I am in London as I write this introduction).
So with this blog, I hope to compile a major portion of the work I do during the project.
What work am I doing you ask:
Meeting with designers and people involved with sustainable industries.
So I'll post some interviews from those.
Hanging out with a couple, helping with project (fingers crossed there)
Reflections on my experiences.
Reading books on sustainability, design, etc.
Book reviews perhaps.
The major questions I'm looking to answer are:
What work are the designers doing?
How is design integrated into sustainability? How is sustainability integrated into design?
What role will/can designers play in the (potential) movement towards a popular eco-consciousness?
What are the most important skills for designers?
How popular is eco-consciousness is among designers? Is it becoming more popular?
In what areas is the most interesting work in sustainable design occurring?
As the final project, I've decided to create this blog. Blog has become a very popular means of information transfer, especially in the sustainable design field (i.e. Inhabitat and Treehugger), and so I felt it would be appropriate to echo this format for my own research.
I hope you enjoy the results.
