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Kristin
Stoeren Wigum
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
The use of eco-philosophy and philosophy as a basis
for scientific argumentation in ecological industrial design research
Designing
for nature is also designing for the human being and its real needs; to
design experiences for real satisfaction. Asking the basic questions and
choosing the values to be interpreted in the total product concept is a
difficult, but in this perspective, a very important part of the conceptual
phase in the eco-design process. Who is then to define the real needs, and
how can experiences be designed tuned with the ecology and principles of
nature? The eco-designer has four masters to serve, the consumer, the company,
the society and the nature.
Three hypothesises are presented in this paper concerning what kind of immaterial
values to incorporate in a total product concept, how to incorporate them
and designing a total experience, then, finally how the businesses might
transform, making these new concepts “alive”.
Background
The author is in the introduction phase of a PhD, concerning environmently
friendly industrial design (eco-design). The financing of the PhD is part
of a Norwegian research program, “Productivity 2005”, where Industrial
Ecology is one of three major branches for research. The program is a co-operation
between Norwegian manufacturing industry, The Research Council of Norway,
and Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
This paper will give an overview of the three main hypothesises which will
become the “spine” of the problem definition of this PhD study
and research.
Industrial design is a profession combining subjects of humanistic sciences
and technology. This places the research within industrial design in a difficult
position since the traditional methods of scientific research are not based
on transdisciplinary problems, but either on natural scientific or social
scientific problems of research. In research of ecological industrial design
there also seem to be a need of drawing a more complete picture, from nature
to needs in the society, individual consumers, down to product details.
Eco-design still have to be defined depending on different contexts. In
this article it is defined as industrial design with broadened perspective,
involving the demands from the consumer, company and society, designing
product system in balance with nature and the ecological principles. The
industrial designer has traditionally been a person representing transdisciplinary
skills with main focus on holistic thinking through e.g. aesthetics in physically
three dimensions, cultural aspects of products and ergonomics, expressed
through the choices of materials, construction and production processes.
Trying to see through the consumers eyes, the designer is likely to create
a product with functions and appearance, stimulating the needs, wants and
wishes of the consumer and the society. This shall again be in harmony strategies
of the manufacturing company.
This gives the work and research within eco-design a manifold and complex
character. To design good solutions in this perspective, the design process
seems to require more complete methods and guidelines.
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