Sustainable design aims at developing solutions to ecological problems regarding the production, the use and the disposal of products. It is also dedicated to the design of services that represent an improvement for people and the environment alike. “Good ideas” are often the source of truly useful products and range of services.
Sustainable design looks to develop solutions to ecological problems regarding the production, the use and the disposal of products. It is also dedicated to the design of services that represent an improvement for people and the environment alike. By calculating the carbon footprint of a product, you can find out if it is an ecologically sound alternative.
“Good” design can actually make a product sustainable in two way: By developing an ecologically sound production process and by having an ecologically useful function, which is the preferable combination when developing a product. A product can be produced in an economically sound manner but still be based on an unnecessary idea, which is an unnecessary use of resources. So a “good idea” can be the source of truly useful products and range of services.
The ecosign is a private and independent academy in Cologne-Ehrenfeld with a focus on sustainable design. We visited the ecosign to talk to Professor Karin-Simone Fuhs to find out more about the development of the academy since it was established in 1994.
KnowMe stands for eco-fair clothing from Münster – for upcycling and recycling of discarded clothes as well as DIY workshops. We visited Noomi in her atelier in Münster.
Design students at the University of Wuppertal and the Folkwang University of the Arts are participating in the contest “Lebensmittel sind mehr wert”, or “Food is valuable” and are designing sustainable media and product solutions. The project was initiated by the Consumer Direct of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Recycling Design Prize is an open contest that has been organised by the Arbeitskreis RecyclingBörse since 2006/2007. The contest deals with the issues of resource conservation and recycling by way of redesign.
The Düsseldorf-based design label germanmade. primarily uses high-quality, natural material such as tanned leather, wool felt and wood.
Lena Schröder is a fashion designer and the founder of the slow fashion label ‘Trinkhallen Schickeria’. She has been putting on the Cologne design market ‘Der Super Markt’ for eight years already and started running the Cologne store ‘Kleiderei’ in May 2016.
Martin Weiß builds wooden surfboards for his label Backwood to foster sustainability in surfing. We visited him in his workshop in Aachen.
The Cologne-based planning office wiederverwandt has been offering sustainable and ecologically reasonable room and design concepts since 2011. They work on everything from the renovation of older buildings to organic food service objects, store concepts and individual furniture pieces.
Tobias Daur explains sustainability using his company out of Münster, lands, as an example and gives us insights into his background as a designer.
