OPINION POLL:

It is an indomitable part of the human spirit to find hope in despair; a reason to keep believing when people and causes we once believed in are no longer there- when the footing of our comfortable existence appears to shift with the unsettling suddenness and violence of an earthquake.

The global events of recent months have led to surprise after surprise, as we watch long-standing economic and commercial icons tumble and fall under the weight of decades of poor judgment and bad choices. One is reminded of the poet, Shelly’s words about the fallen statue of a once-powerful king of ancient times, in his 1817 poem, Ozymandias, where he reminds us that, with the ruins of time, “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away.”  But, within the difficult scenario of tough economic times lies a kernel of hope and the seeds of a revolution for those of us in the design/build community who are willing to pay attention.

A one-hundred-and-four year old woman recently reminded me that her experience of the Great Depression of 1929-35– far more serious and far-reaching than what we are currently undergoing—did not impact on daily life for most people in the same way as today, due in large part to the fact that people didn’t have as much to lose. By this, she meant things…stuff…possessions held dear that have been purchased at significant cost. Life in that time was truly simpler from the standpoint of daily routines and expectations. At least, people were less encumbered by what they owned. Things didn’t wear out as fast; were re-used, handed down or recycled without much thought given to whether the object or ‘pass-along’ (gift is too kind a word) in question was the newest model, the latest design or technically, the most sophisticated. Products and articles of value aged, but didn’t “get old” in the same way they do today (think: cell phones).

Like Houdini, escape the shackles of old ways of working and look for new market opportunities for you and your brand.

These habits and patterns of not-so-long ago (just two generations!) were established and passed along as a natural part of everyday life; but became more critical during the crisis brought on by the Great Depression. In other words, we were living then what we would now call a sustainable life style. It wasn’t considered “green” or viewed as recycling, or even eco-friendly- it was just what people did! It was carried out as part of a daily routine.Today’s economic realities demand that we consider making changes in our lives. We have an opportunity in the next few years- driven perhaps by necessity, by a vision of a different world or, perhaps, by new political leadership, to reinvent ourselves. For designers, engineers, artisans and architects alike, the opportunity, in the wake of this financial down-turn, to reinvent ourselves in more mindful, sensible and eco-friendly ways, is upon us– if we chose to act!

Some will recall that the great post-war period in the U.S., between 1945-1970 (the mid-century modern period), was in fact, that very period of economic recovery following a protracted depression and global conflict, described above. Memories of hardships drawn from those previous 20 years, combined with a burgeoning consumer economy, driven by returning GIs and their new families, as well as a need for affordable housing and durable goods to fill them, drove the movement to meet that demand with cheap and readily available products.

The post-modern period (post-1970), therefore, was a protracted period of cultural or “value drift”, when we, as Americans, were driven by competition with our neighbor, expediency and ambition to attain the ‘American Dream’. The price we paid for that success and prominence was the shift away from a life style that once focused on quality, not quantity; permanence, not disposability; values, not volume– and the slow but inevitable impact of all of these excesses on our fragile environment.

We now stand at the doorway to a new era—one brought down on us by a host of events on the first decade of this new Milennium. Market trends and the rapid growth of the Internet have proven beyond a doubt that we are now positioned in a global marketplace, politically, economically, environmentally and culturally- and that it is not necessarily one of our own making. The old notion of the butterfly flapping its wings in the rainforest affecting ice flows in the arctic is proving out with shocking regularity- and not just in quaint philosophical terms.

One important legacy of mid-century modernism, however, is still with us today and deserves our undivided attention. If necessity is the mother of invention, the need to find economies of scale and design in the late 40s and early 50s led a number of architects and designers to consider creative and, in some cases, brilliantly-conceived ways to use low-cost materials to produce beautiful products. Through the creative use of such materials as plywood, plastics, fiberglass, poured concrete and metal tubing.
For the design community, this is the moment to rethink old paradigms about functionality, utility, sustainability, environmental stewardship and production cost in everything we do. As was the case in the 1950s, creative thinking, design risk-taking and an awareness of what the “new” client or customer may be looking for is the key to our success in this global design revolution.

by Richard Friswell, Editor-in-Chief