Aesthetic and Sustainability: The Aesthetic Attributes Promoting Product Sustainability

Zafarmand, Seyed Javad; Sugiyama, Kazuo; Watanabe, Makoto

doi:10.1007/s10970-005-6157-0

Cited by 59 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This kind of aestheticization can be generalized as the production of illusions, which make life more pleasant without necessarily harming the planet. The design profession is already heavily involved in promoting sustainable products (Zafarmand et al, 2003). The environmentally conscious designer and consumer can learn here that there can in fact be aesthetic fi xes for problems created through unsustainable aestheticization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paradoxes of design: energy and water consumption and the aestheticization of Norwegian bathrooms 1990–2008

Berker

Gansmo

2010

Sustainable Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article we explore the widely held assumption that aestheticized consumption is bound to escalate. In our study of 20 years of representations of bathrooms in Norway's most popular interior design magazine Bonytt, we found support for the hypothesis that since the early 1990s new uses of bathrooms as sites for the construction and expression of identity and social aspirations have become more salient. We also have reason to believe that these new uses may be related to increased energy and water consumption. However, we also encountered aspects that indicate a more contingent and paradoxical relation. First, Bonytt calls explicitly for reflexive consumerism, enabling readers to deliberate the degree of aestheticization of their bathrooms. Second, while mostly showing large bathrooms, 'aesthetic fixes' are proposed by Bonytt, which let small bathrooms appear larger -without increased energy consumption for space heating. Third, aesthetics is used to propagate new, energy saving technologies (e.g. LEDs). And fourth, water and energy wasting prac-tices shown in newer Bonytt issues (e.g. large shower heads) have largely replaced wasteful practices present in older issues (e.g. whirlpools). Thus, at least in these cases the shifts in fashions promoted by Bonytt may only be surface phenomena, which leave more funda-mental trends untouched. These four observations are examples of how a productive rela-tion between design and sustainability can be achieved.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paradoxes of design: energy and water consumption and the aestheticization of Norwegian bathrooms 1990–2008

Berker

Gansmo

2010

Sustainable Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One reason might be that issues tackled by engineers are easy to measure and evaluate and therefore attract more attention than the less tangible issues like user related factors [22,23]. Furthermore, companies might favor incremental innovation in the engineering phase as it associated with a lower risk level than fundamental or radical innovation [6,24].…”

Section: Critique Of Current Ecodesign Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Representation of Ecodesign Practice: International Comparison of Industrial Design Consultancies

Behrisch¹,

Ramirez

Giurco³

2011

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecodesign offers significant potential to reduce the environmental impacts of products. Whilst some integration of environmental considerations into design occurs in progressive companies when engineering the product, this only represents a small share of the possible design interventions to improve the environmental performance of products. For example, developing new product concepts to fulfill needs in a less environmentally harmful way and considering user related aspects offers a large, currently under-realized potential. This paper identifies industrial design (ID) consultancies as potential agents to tackle this issue on a strategic and operational basis. The extent to which this potential is currently applied was assessed by conducting a content analysis of websites of ID consultancies in Australia, China, and Germany. How ID consultancies represent their ecodesign practice is country-specific. Despite the differences, some ID consultancies in all countries announce and/or show the capability to develop completely new concepts and to influence user related factors to improve environmental performance. This shows their potential to address current shortcomings in ecodesign practice. As ID consultancies embracing that potential still are a minority, further research should be directed to a deeper examination of barriers and stimuli for ID consultancies to take up ecodesign.

show abstract

“…For example, classic designs (such as the one used for years by Volvo) or local, cultural designs that communicate a community identity are sources of ''timeless'' designs that make a product's appeal long lasting (cf. Zafarmand et al, 2003). Typologies of strategies for sustainable design are available from several sources (cf.…”

Section: Environmental Ethics: Responses From Industrial Design and Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Creative Destruction and Destructive Creations: Environmental Ethics and Planned Obsolescence

2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Aesthetic and Sustainability: The Aesthetic Attributes Promoting Product Sustainability

Cited by 59 publications

References 9 publications

Paradoxes of design: energy and water consumption and the aestheticization of Norwegian bathrooms 1990–2008

Paradoxes of design: energy and water consumption and the aestheticization of Norwegian bathrooms 1990–2008

Representation of Ecodesign Practice: International Comparison of Industrial Design Consultancies

Creative Destruction and Destructive Creations: Environmental Ethics and Planned Obsolescence

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About