Arts of Survival

Almost 40 years ago, Victor Papanek claimed "that which we throw away, we fail to value." (Papanek 1971) Having rather obsolescent consumption habits may only be natural to people living in the developed world. In the developing world however, most people have not had the 'opportunity' to be obsolescent. It is within these circumstances that one can ascertain the real material value of an object. In 'Design for the Real World' Papanek demonstrates how people from less prosperous regions of the world learn to fully exploit the materiality of an object. He came across a cooking stove design made from used license plates in Mexico, sold for 8 cents. A family usually used this stove for 10 to 15 years, before its soldering would disintegrate. Only if the broken license-plate-stove would be completely irreparable, would the family afford to buy a new stove.

The intention of this example is not to glorify the creativity of slum dwellers. To the contrary, it serves as an indication of the terrible living conditions of the majority of this world's population. Body Shop founder and human activitst Anita Roddick has stated: "(...) a short walk through the outer estates of many of the greates cities (...) betrays the hideous ugliness that we expect large groups of the world's population to live in. Often it is ugliness, that has been deliberately designed as a concrete monstrosity, using regeneration money that remains an unpaid debt long after the new batilles have crumbled away." (Simms & Smith 2008) This elloquent opinion inspires me to think that, perhaps, designers need to start designing things that are more durable, because "that which we throw away, we fail to value." (Papanek 1971)

Papanek, V. 1971. Design For The Real World. Great Britain: Paladin.
Simms, A. and Smith, J. 2008. Do Good Lives Have To Cost The Earth? London: Constable