Industrial Design That Will Outlive Our Grandchildren
Product design should be robust and timeless so that products last for several life cycles
A small number of industrial countries are using up the earth’s raw material deposits. According to Professor Sebastian Feucht from the University of Applied Sciences Berlin, this is partly caused by deficient product design. He pledges prospective industrial designers to develop products that will outlive our grandchildren. Their design should be robust and timeless so that, ideally, they last for several life cycles.
In the 1990s, Sebastian Feucht was searching for a meaningful topic for his thesis. He opted for sustainable product design – his lifetime mission. Today he is a full professor of “Sustainability – Materials - Technology” at the department for industrial design of the University of Applied Sciences Berlin.
He is reluctant, however, to use the term “sustainability” because it has been tarnished by its excessive use as a marketing buzzword. He is critical of hollow slogans like “sustainable interest rates” as well as sustainability reports issued by large corporations, who destroy livelihoods with their thirst for energy and resources, and build whole industries on instilling ever new desires in oversaturated consumers. “As a consequence of what is going on, thirty of the most important industrial raw materials will be depleted as a primary raw material in the next 15 to 20 years, i.e. will only be available through recycling,” he explains. If only for this reason, things cannot stay the way they are. In order to solve these problems, today’s definition of sustainable living is too narrow. “Ecology, economics and social issues are on an equal plane,” explains the professor. Unfortunately, our ecosystem does not give out credits in real life.
A depleted raw material is gone forever. It doesn’t grow again and it cannot be gathered from an ersatz earth. Compared to the other two spheres, our ecosystem has a very real upper limit. He raises a finger: “Industrial and product designers have a particular responsibility to oppose excessive use of resources with intelligent product design. We should be dedicated to making products that will outlive our grandchildren.”
Outlive our grandchildren? According to Feucht this concept is two-fold: first, it is about keeping in mind the demand for resources of our children’s children. Secondly, a designer should aim at developing robust and timeless products that last several life cycles. “Continuing to develop the same products which merely require less resources and recycling raw materials is not enough,” the professor clarifies. Today’s demand for resources will have to decrease by 80 % in order to enable an acceptable standard of living and social justice on a global scale. Feucht says: “The large number of refugees hoping for a better life is proof that social justice is still a long way off.”
During his seminars Feucht raises awareness for these fundamentals among the prospective product designers. One should start by creating awareness of the ecological backpack of a planned product, to question whether a product actually benefits the people, and to think about new business models and marketing strategies. These could include: exchangeable shells so that the more robust inside of a device can be used again after an upgrade. Or a borrowing-lending system to replace the one based on sales alone. “If mechanical engineers or car producers guarantee that they will accept people returning their products and reimburse the balance, the natural result will be increased customer loyalty,” says Feucht. It is important to stress the opportunities that ecological awareness offers, instead of seeing paternalism looming behind every bush.
Lastly, Feucht advocates product cycles. Naturally, recycling of materials should remain the last stage of a product’s life cycle and the beginning of the next. However, his aim is to considerably increase the service life of today’s products. Car sharing and machine leasing can be seen as good first attempts. “I am convinced that companies don’t have any other choice but to establish a form of product design that will outlive our grandchildren,” he explains “, because it’s the only way to control their costs for materials.” The global run on scarce resources has long begun.
By Peter Trechow for Adlershof Journal