Design is always about creating a future. But what does it mean to create a circular future?
There are many views on circularity and how to attain it. what kind of circular future do you prefer? The whole idea of a sustainable, circular system for goods and services is based on natural lifecycles.
In 1971 the American biologist Barry Commoner published his book The Closing Circlein which he introduced the concepts of eco-sphere and techno-sphere. The eco-sphere is a complex natural network with lifecycles for air, water and soil. A perfect balanced eco-system which developed over billions of years. Human beings are disturbing these natural lifecycles through our techno-sphere. This techno-sphere is mostly based on artificial, linear systems, which results in toxic chemicals, use of non-renewable raw materials and huge amounts of waste. human beings you are part of a balanced eco-sphere. However on the other hand you exploit this eco-sphere for your own benefits. According to Commoner, we created a paradox by thinking that we could overcome our natural state and live independently of our natural surroundings. Because we will always depend on our natural capital. Nature knows best what is a circular, sustainable system.
consider Commoner as an eco-utopist. He relates his ideas to pre-industrial people who live close to nature, and know their lifecycle principles very well. This eco-utopist ideas inspired some designers to work with a romantic view. That man must live in harmony with nature, like a Robinson Crusoe.
On the opposite side of the eco-utopists, you have people with a techo-utopistic attitude. These people believe in the endless possibilities of advanced technology to overcome all our environmental, societal and economical challenges. They even believe that advanced technology based on artificial intelligence and the use of big data will become our next nature. So our future techno-sphere will function as an advanced and even improved circular eco-sphere.
The two utopian ideas, techno-utopia and eco-utopia, are perfectly illustrated in Charles Mann’s publication The Wizard and the Prophet. About two duelling visions for a better future. The vision of the Prophets relates to the environmental movement. Prophets are always shouting: reduce, reduce and go back to nature, or we will lose everything. The Wizards are the techno-utopists. They are always repeating their mantra: innovate, innovate by technology to save our planet. According to Mann there is no dialogue between the prophets and the wizards. He shares the same insights as the late Barry Commoner: don’t be a fundamental utopist whether you are more on the eco or more on the techno side. In the end, human civilisation is about considering both, the eco-sphere and the techno-sphere and the way in which they relate to each other.
what kind of circular eco- or techno-system do you want to live in? Would you opt for technological circular fashion? With clothes you could spray on the body or colour by nanotechnology?
Or do you prefer the bio circular fashion? With fabrics from mycelium and coloured by bacteria? Do you want to design a circular future based on nature, or technology? Or are you the designer who can merge these opposite concepts into a real sustainable and circular fashion system?
creation of new materials from waste:
in Thinking about a circular future, we have to consider what kind of potential future we prefer. Using design principles are just a method. But methods are always part of a methodology, which is embedded in an ideological system. Systems built upon cultural norms and values, framed by an existent paradigm.
The future is never a dark hole and you can predict some near futures based on knowledge and experiences from the past or current life. Futurologists distinguish different kind of futures, visualized in a Futures Cone. The futures cone shows us a broad perspective on a potential future. But within this potential future you could have possible, plausible, probable or preferable futures. What is possible, we do not necessarily want, and what we prefer seems sometimes impossible.
The first futures cone has been criticized for looking to the future from only one contemporary perspective. However, we look at it from different perspectives that ultimately influence what is desirable, probable, possible or plausible.
if we look back to the cone of the past, we can find some excellent examples of artefacts based on circular design principles, such as minimal waste, physical and emotional durability and cyclability. made from one, locally available material, made for at least one lifetime and at the end of life completely and easily recyclable.
Can we also find some fine examples of sustainable, circular designed garments now?
perhaps so? for example is the ultimate no waste garment still a flat piece of woven fabric. Used for example as a classical tunic, as an Asian kimono or a monk’s habit. Patterns are rectangular, the fabrics are made from one type of yarn. These traditional clothes are durable in two ways: a very high physical quality and a timeless look. this method includes both reduce and repair. for example the monk's habit. It is used for a long period of time, and the cloth is cherished and repaired when needed. The monk does not need for other types of clothing and reduces his need for clothing consumption altogether. This is an example of reduce and repair. We cannot be certain that the cloth was reused after its function as a monk’s habit. In addition, there is no information given regarding the recycling of such garments.
or the classic tunic. A flat piece of woven fabric, cut straight from the fabric without any fabric cutting waste. It is an example of design for minimal waste. One could speculate that the example from the video is a historical example, when garments were worn for a long period of time and were designed for durability and cyclability (as many garments were often worn by multiple family members). This however remains speculation.
Here, we are talking about clothes, and not about fashion. These clothes are not just for one season, but for a lifetime, or even beyond. What we see in the next example are clothes, for which design is not the only outcome of using circular and sustainable design principles. Materials, shapes, colours, advanced craft techniques for production and repairing methods are all embedded in a rich cultural, social and economic tradition, embedded in collectively shared values and norms. In short: embedded in a cultural ideology.
A circular future is not only about using circular design principles. You have to rethink cultural, social and ethic values. You have to think and rethink the ideological context of your life. The most important values have to do with opposite concepts like:
Individuality versus Collectivity
Tradition versus Innovation
Quantity versus Quality
Affordable for everyone or only accessible to the rich elite.
Do we want to design a circular future based on conservative or progressive values, on a elitist or egalitarian society? Or are you the designer who can merge these opposite concepts into a real sustainable and circular fashion system without waste, without use of toxic materials, with a timeless designed garment which is part of an endless lifecycle, as part of a new paradigm?
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