Christopher Hobbs-Massou
Reflections: Designing For The Long Haul
6/4/2020 (some of my personal thoughts on design)
If you've done the rounds of my site, you'll know from the blurb on my about page that I hold the marriage of form and function in very high esteem. A, swashbuckling, sacred combination that captures the mind, unleashes the heart, and leaves naysayers speechless in the dust. . . or something like that. To my mind, the natural extension of this, is a design philosophy concerned with longevity. In this post, I want to reflect on the ideas concerned with how design can exist in the world in a sustainable, purposeful way.
What do I mean by design longevity, and how does it relate to my work here at UoA? My ideas about this come from my love of old stuff, at the risk of sounding like a retrogrouch, old stuff was made to last. It's true! It is a reflection of the time in which it was made.
In the past, our societies were not geared towards producing cheap copies of something in vast quantities. Instead, it was important to invest more of your limited time and resources into fewer things that were durable, functional, and could be repaired. The result of these necessary criteria, was that items; tools, clothes, furniture, buildings, you name it - were, well, durable, functional and repairable. In addition, because people don't generally like ugly things, you can frequently point to design from the past as typically being beautiful, even when utilitarian in nature.
To illustrate this point, let's take a look at The Tannery, in Christchurch. Historically, tanneries were very lowly regarded and tanning was considered an "odiferous trade" (n.d. Food and Agriculture Organisation) with hides arriving on site covered in gore, dirt and excrement. As such these buildings were often located at the outskirts of towns, near poor population centres.
Leather tanning industry, 19th century - Stock Image - C047/7177. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1065537/view/leather-tanning-industry-19th-century
Additionally before modern times and the wonders of chemical synthesis, preparation agents were typically urine and "dung water" (Tony Covington, 2002). Yet even a building dedicated to arguably the most repugnant industry in the premodern world, is an architectural marvel. Today The Tannery is a boutique shopping centre and popular venue for -wait for it-
weddings. Talk about timeless design.
Show me any example of a literal cesspool from the modern era being repurposed for classy weddings.
Shopping Centre History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://thetannery.co.nz/about/our-story/
Contrasted with this, contemporary design is also a reflection of our current time, and can suffer from a lack of the above qualities. Low manufacturing costs mean that repairability is less of a concern than upfront cost, convenience, and disposability. In short, I feel that the demand of the consumer economy, can have a negative impact on consumers.
So therefore, I am really interested in the place 'design longevity' (as I seem to be calling it) has in a modern setting. I can't know where my studies might ultimately take me, but I would like to pursue design that takes its own future seriously. By that I mean design that isn't just a commodity, but long lasting, be that physical items, or nonphysical interfaces, (or maybe even something else) I would like my designs to consider; How will the world be able to continue to benefit from this in a changing future?
#Design 100 #Design UoA
Cited Works and Sources:
(n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2020, from http://www.fao.org/3/X6114E/x6114e05.htm#b1-3.1. Description of the tanning process
Maharam Stories - The History of Leather Tanning by Dr. Josephine Barbe. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://www.maharam.com/stories/barbe_the-history-of-leather-tanning
Magazine issue 2358 published 31 August 2002. (n.d.). Tony Covington, British School of Leather Technology - NewScientist Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://www.newscientist.com/letter/mg17523585-200-pure-dog-dung/
Shopping Centre History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://thetannery.co.nz/about/our-story/
Leather tanning industry, 19th century - Stock Image - C047/7177. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1065537/view/leather-tanning-industry-19th-century