Critical Design Blog

WHAT It is about clothing of the future, organic and implemented with cutting-edge technologies, whose purpose is to ensure a life cycle synchronized with man. These futuristic garments are able to monitor and react to the parameters of the individual, to maintain a stable vital balance. The side of organic functioning includes balance and hormonal stabilization that creates a mechanism of symbiosis between the person and the garment, affecting in several directions his mood tone, its psychological balance and the aspects naturally associated with such processes.

WHO The fast fashion industry has been supplanted by geographically scattered nuclei of small companies. Production has become more limited and the value of clothing has significantly increased compared to previous mass production. Despite this it has become a socially recognized solution and part of the cultural plant against the waste of the previous era. The vast majority of people no longer have feelings of distrust, although there are those who do not want to take part in this change, especially to maintain full control of their body.

WHY The environmental alarm, which has long been pointing the finger at the fashion industry, has highlighted the problem of pollution and waste from this market sector. Countless initiatives to tackle the environmental problem have been taking place for decades. People begin to prefer garments that "last a lifetime" to garments that "live to be worn once". Technology has meanwhile run its course and its evolution has achieved these social goals: organic garments implemented to respond to the chemical reactions of the wearer. This invention should benefit everyone: the environment, society, individuals.

WHERE Micro-enterprises are geographically distributed in a homogeneous way. One of the main policies is the use of raw materials from the same geographical area, to ensure costs proportionate to the economic contexts of specific countries. These regulations have been applied all over the world to combat the massification of industry and combat pollution due to the problem of toxic emissions and global waste.

WHEN Items are not purchased in stores every time the new Fall/Winter - Spring/Summer collection is released. Production and manufacture are limited and the purchase of an item of clothing also includes the implantation of some cutting-edge technological functions in your body. Owning clothes after purchase is equivalent to creating a symbiotic dependence in which the life cycle of the garment is guaranteed by the health of the human being and the health of the human being is guaranteed by the balance of signals by integrated technologies.

Material Speculation 1/2 : Moodboard

This famous quote, that I read randomly among the various researches of these days, reflects in part the sensations that I am experiencing during this process of material speculation.

This story I made up is actually going on, apparently...

It doesn’t seem far from reality, but I certainly wouldn’t have expected to find out the clothes I drew in the sketches.

I created this moodboard to represent the hi-tech clothing that appears in my episode. The aim is to transmit the organicity of the elements, which seem to coexist in a kind of disturbing balance.

Material Speculation 0/2 : Mood Sketches

Probably my mind has gone too far beyond my story and this thing just got out of hand..

I will try to clarify the associations and insights with which I came up in the following sketches, otherwise everything would be unreasonable (and maybe will continue to be anyways).

Concept: in this world clothes are something more than what we already know. Not only useful things, not only fashion and trends. They are the new weapon against the waste industry and fast fashion. They also support humans.

Object: organic garments, implemented with advanced technologies to ensure that they have a real life cycle. They live, with you, on you.

You live with them...perhaps not always without

Story: Non-human beings produce our new organic garments, implanting intelligent sensors calibrated to human ones. The sensitivity of the sensors is such as to capture every signal in the cascade of discharges and signals that our body produces. The greatest risk is symbiosis with an entity that should adapt flexibly to you, but sometimes overreacts causing unpleasant and unforeseen consequences.

CURRENT SKETCH

In our initial brainstorming we imagined a close and visceral bond, physical and emotional, established with clothing. Our natural organic reactions make clothing react to stabilise our paramethers, but sometimes out of control of those who wear them. This process doesn't rule out depression and sadness in having lost a garment that has lived your own life, literally.

As I write in the title of this post, the vibes of this speculation brought to mind something that I never thought I would dust off

OLD SKETCHES

Entities living together

I would also like to share my inspirational soundtrack, which actually starts with these words:

"You're wearing my old clothes, but you, you wear it better"

Maneskin latest album I'm obsessed with, but also my current situation..

So many things to do, often all together.

This was the case for the last Critical Design lecture I couldn't attend.

It was not easy to get in touch with the topic provided in class, "Material Speculation", especially considering that it was extremely concrete and stimulating. I'm doing my best to draw ideas and insights from the experiences of others and scrolling through my colleagues' blogs.

Soon out with some stuff

Do you remember the question

Can you imagine your future?

Here’s the hypothetical Black Mirror episode I came up with, after the previous lecture about dystopian narratives.

The world fights capitalism on the side of the fashion industry, trying to bring down the phenomenon of “fast-fashion”.

Your clothes live, they feel like you.

The object in this scenario is a polysensory garment that respond to their wearers' stress levels by changing colour or emitting flashing lights to detect shifts in mood and reacting by changing your organic parameters automatically.

They react to their wearers' temperature, heart rate and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) via in-built sensors, which trigger changes anytime anxiety is heightened.

Grab a cup of coffee and make yourself at home…☕️

Postcards from the last lecture: narrative design

The perfect environment for a creative and critical storytelling📝🔎

We took over from the exhibition the if/then explorative way for thinking about the present coming up with new future scenarios.

Check this out 👇🏼

The exercise proposed pointed out some ethical issues with a direct impact in our future and the outcome of our creative brainstorming is actually show in the posted pictures

Goal: Extrapolatio ad Absurdum

“Exaggerate ridiculously into the future based on a certain trend in the now”

I hope you saw the pictures and spent at least 1% of fun time we have making it up.

But that’s not all…

Big return.

Our last inspiring experience was entirely dedicated to lost ourselves in the corners of the Weltmuseum in Vienna.

The main attraction was the big exhibition about a speculative narrative of the future. I found definitely interesting the way for combining past and future going through the shapes of the present.

Moving through the spots:

1. Science fiction as a narrative of conquest and how indigenous artists from the USA and Canada use the movie Star Wars to tell the story of their own conquest.

2. Science fiction as creative resistance by artists from Brazil showing struggle against land grabbing and the destruction of their cultural identity.

3. Science fiction as a social experiment, journey into the unknown in which the first Syrian cosmonaut, who now lives as a refugee in Istanbul, continues his journey to Mars.

4/5. Science fiction as a discussions about the rights of non-human beings and the disappearance of humanity.

Science fiction as impulse to remember that is up to us to build new worlds to ensure that a positive future does not remain science fiction.

Free-thought spaces that I loved

Can you imagine our future? What it looks like?

Finally, I would like to share something I read recently that elicited automatic connections between these two reflective experiences.

The second sample I addressed concern the feeling of integration and cohexistence with nature in our human circumstances. What I mean in this case is little bit difference from the concept behind Organic Design.

Let's cover it deeply

BIOPHILIA. The term is derived from the Greek words for “life” and “love or affection;” making its literal translation “love of life.” The term ‘biophilia’ was first coined by social psychologist Eric Fromm (5. The Heart of Man, 1964 ) and later popularized by biologist Edward Wilson (Biophilia, 1984).

The sundry denotations – which have evolved from within the fields of biology and psychology, and been adapted to the fields of neuroscience, endocrinology, architecture and beyond – all relate back to the desire for a (re)connection with nature and natural systems. That we should be genetically predisposed to prefer certain types of nature and natural scenery, specifically the savanna. Biophilia is man's innate biological connection with nature that leads to improved psychological and cognitive functions.

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than one seeks.”- John Muir, 19 July 1877

This concept is strongly related to the sampe I'd like to indroduce: Biophilic Design.

Concept:

I begin with an overview of Biophilic Design, citing the results of numerous behind-the-scenes studies. The knowledge challenge that has emerged from the research articulates the relationships between nature, science, and the built environment so that we can experience the human benefits of biophilia in our design applications, which are known to enhance our lives through a connection with nature.

Goal:

The intent should be to present the foundation necessary for thinking more critically about the human connection with nature and how biophilic design patterns can be used as a tool for improving health and well-being in the built environment.

Patterns:

With the emergence of the green building movement in the early 1990s, linkages were made between improved environmental quality and worker productivity.

The translation of biophilia as a hypothesis into design of the built environment was the topic of a 2004 conference and subsequent book on biophilic design (10. Eds., Kellert, Heerwagen & Mador, 2008 ) in which authors identified more than 70 different mechanisms for engendering a biophilic experience and outlined three classifications of user experience: Nature in the Space, Natural Analogues, and Nature of the Space.

The past decade has seen a steady growth in work on the intersections of neuroscience and architecture, both in research and in practice; even green building standards have begun to incorporate biophilosophy, especially for its contribution to the quality of the indoor environment and connection to place.

More recently, biophilic design has been promoted as a complementary and mainstream strategy to address workplace stress, student performance, patient recovery, community cohesion, and other challenges familiar to health and overall well-being.

Nature-Design Relationships:

Stepping back to the Biophilic experiences, we can split them into three categories:

Nature in the Space addresses the direct, physical and ephemeral presence of nature in a space or place which provides multi-sensory interactions (Common examples include potted plants, flowerbeds, bird feeders, butterfly gardens, water features, fountains, aquariums, courtyard gardens and green walls or vegetated roofs)

2. Natural Analogues addresses organic, non-living and indirect evocations of nature. Objects, materials, colors, shapes, sequences and patterns found in nature, manifest as artwork, ornamentation, furniture, décor, and textiles in the built environment.

3. Nature of the Space addresses spatial configurations in nature. This includes our innate and learned desire to be able to see beyond our immediate surroundings, our fascination with the slightly dangerous or unknown; obscured views and revelatory moments; and sometimes even phobia-inducing properties when they include a trusted element of safety.

Much of the evidence for biophilia can be linked to research in one or more of three overarching mind-body systems – cognitive, psychological and physiological – that have been explored and verified to varying degrees, in laboratory or field studies, to help explain how people’s health and well-being are impacted by their environment.

Good Biophilic Design?

Biophilic design is the designing for people as a biological organism, respecting the mind-body systems as indicators of health and well-being in the context of what is locally appropriate and responsive.

I will mention couple of key strategies examples that have proven useful in framing, prioritizing, or influencing decision making in the design process:

Vernacular architecture -using native, drought tolerant plants to create landscape designs that resemble the climate of the surrounding landscape – can each be effective strategies in designing for a resilient, biophilic experience.

Rural, suburban and urban environments - where human-nature interactions are abundant, and this regular exposure to nature has restorative qualities that we perhaps take for granted.  In the narrow streets of Vienna, Austria, restaurants rent parking spaces for the entire summer and set up tables and temporary landscaping to provide outdoor dining. This brings nature into the urban core and within walking distance to a greater number of people, opening up the possibility for micro-restorative experiences.

I know this post is turning into a never-ending story, so I will leave one last interesting resource for the curious :)

I would be very grateful to know that you enjoyed the content and even more so if you felt like leaving comments and interacting in any way.

Hey hey! I’m back again :)

Same vibes, different concept: Organic Design

I decided to address this concept as well, since I had chance to heard about it in my university in Milan for the fist time.

Starting point: Organic design is a mixture between man-made buildings or manufactures and Natural environment.

We’re going to explore more deeply into architectural design side reconciling with a sustainable approach.

Organic design is a kind of mission born to emphasize balance in the human-nature relationship. The organic style is a major feature of mid-century modern design and architecture, a movement that emerged in the United States from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Following natural principles, organic design tends to facilitate human interaction through meaningful and functional objects. The intent is to make the entire experience effective and enjoyable.

There are many features we could highlight:

Minimalism in terms of materials, natural textures and neutral forms, lines etc.

Neutral and muted colours to give the idea of reflecting earth and nature components

Open spaces aim to suggest the sense of freedom as in the modern-style approach. Living in organic modern homes means feeling the outdoors inside and bringing natural elements inside.

Simple materials like natural wood, rattan, jute, seagrass, and others. Designers complement these with other simple materials, like concrete, glass, steel, and cast-iron.

At this point, I would like to make the concept more concrete by talking about a virtuous project born in Italy: Krill Design

Strengths:

100% biodegradable: Rekrill is the patented biomaterial to create their own design products from orange peels and coffee grounds.  

Circular economy

Minimum environmental impact: production process by choosing 3D printing

Cooperation among local communities

Let’s have a look at Krill Design works:

To conclude, I’m gonna leave other interesting examples that I found browsing around (most of them are chairs and lamps🤔):