Sustainability and inclusion in the fashion world
Fátima Lopes
Outdoor spaces: a piece of nature in our homes
Filipa Fleming
Product design challenges
Frederico Albergaria
CEO and Founder of Cobermaster Concept
Design is something that has always been part of our lives, wherever we are. If you think about it, everything around us has been created using design. The crockery we use for breakfast, the clothes we wear, the car that takes us to work, the laptop we use to work with and all the other objects and equipment we use in our daily lives. All of them have been developed using design.
For many years, however, companies have been developing and designing products in a totally unrestricted way, almost as if the raw materials and natural resources used were unlimited and as if the processes for obtaining these materials were totally free of pollutant emissions. From time to time, news about climate change and the depletion of our planet’s natural resources appeared, but we often thought that they were just theories or mere prophecies unlikely to happen, at least not in the near future.
The reality is that those theories and prophecies were so accurate that we are now facing various extreme natural phenomena all over the world. I recently heard on the news that the thermometer had reached 56 degrees centigrade in one part of the USA for the first time!... and 52 degrees in another part of China.
Despite it being late, I think we have all come to realise that the lifestyle we have had until now is not sustainable at all, and product design can and must make a difference now.
It is time to design products with a long lifespan, with sustainable and recyclable materials, with the use of production waste, with low emissions of pollutants during the manufacturing process, with the possibility of being reconverted and restored after many years of use.
If we want our children to have a future, we will have to act firmly and immediately, because we have already used up all the time we had for preparation. Product design can and should help in making this transition.
For many years, however, companies have been developing and designing products in a totally unrestricted way, almost as if the raw materials and natural resources used were unlimited and as if the processes for obtaining these materials were totally free of pollutant emissions. From time to time, news about climate change and the depletion of our planet’s natural resources appeared, but we often thought that they were just theories or mere prophecies unlikely to happen, at least not in the near future.
The reality is that those theories and prophecies were so accurate that we are now facing various extreme natural phenomena all over the world. I recently heard on the news that the thermometer had reached 56 degrees centigrade in one part of the USA for the first time!... and 52 degrees in another part of China.
Despite it being late, I think we have all come to realise that the lifestyle we have had until now is not sustainable at all, and product design can and must make a difference now.
It is time to design products with a long lifespan, with sustainable and recyclable materials, with the use of production waste, with low emissions of pollutants during the manufacturing process, with the possibility of being reconverted and restored after many years of use.
If we want our children to have a future, we will have to act firmly and immediately, because we have already used up all the time we had for preparation. Product design can and should help in making this transition.
