Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Getting down to basics
By Zac Faelnar-Camara
Life can be sustained through very simple necessities. For basic survival, all we need are food and water, clothing, shelter and respect for life. Throughout civilization, the people of the world have used their creativity to improve these basic elements for survival. Enter the world of design.
Design is, in a word, life-altering. If you listen to an introduction to architecture or world civilization, you will easily recognize that design was a necessary tool in improving the way of life. You will learn that developments in hunting tools, cooking utensils, building materials, clothing materials, clothing styles, architectural styles, temple plans, city plans, irrigation methods, farming methods, transportation and even weapons of war were, through decades and centuries, dependent on revolutionary design. volution.
Design is life altering because it is through human innovation that the world changes drastically. Be it a “miracle seed” or an electronic gadget, these innovations affect people’s lives and have significant effects on both the global economy and ecology.
However, if people do not have a mind frame for sustainability, then every human technology will drive us to our eventual doom. We have only to remember our basic necessities: food and water, clothing, shelter and respect for life. Depleting the very sources from which we obtain these will certainly lead to the destruction of our planet and our downfall as a civilization.
There is no question, no argument, no denying that life must be sustained with sustainable practices in all aspects of daily living. It is an idea that should not be ignored nor rejected. If we want to ensure a livable world for future generations, we must design our lives and lifestyles to suit our world; our home.
(September 20, 2005 issue)
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