Reframing the ‘Design Solution’

Posted on | September 25, 2008 |

During Monday’s educational session Greengaged welcomed sustainable design reader Dr Tracy Bhamra, from Loughborough University.

Bhamra began her presentation with an overview of her sustainable design teaching and expressed how she believes that “a sustainable design module needs to be something that everyone has to think about and not considered as a separate niche.”

At Loughborough University, sustainability is introduced to 1st year students through an essay and offered as an optional module in the 2nd year of the BA Industrial Design & Technology and BSc Product Design and Technology courses. The final year undergraduates are then encouraged to select sustainable design briefs. “The course lets students see that they have a role to play in the future”, she explained. Bhamra explained that since 2000, the optional modules have become increasingly popular and at present 50 of 120 students are choosing to focus on sustainability for their dissertations.

Bhamra then showed us an example of a recent design brief - To develop concept solutions for a Resource Efficient Transport of the Future. The 90minute exercise resulted in a series of forward thinking solutions ranging from adaptable vehicles, alternative fuel use and even a “Trans Sport” concept whereby kinetic energy from gyms powered a tram system. In response to the brief, one student explained, “This exercise got us thinking about how we take modern transportation for granted and it surprised me how difficult it was to come up a sustainable solution.” “By looking at a system, rather than a product, the students were really challenged to consider alternative outcomes”, Bhamra explained.

Bhamra then commented that external clients such as E-on, Boots, PDD design consultancy and Oakdene Hollins environmental consultants have been keen to work with the students to gain fresh insights.

Closing her presentation, Bhamra explained that the modules are focused on systems and processes and therefore a diagram may well be the final project outcome. “We do not penalise them if they don’t do a pretty picture, but unfortunately that is not always the case in the other modules. Sustainability isn’t just an addition to their designing, but rather it is an opportunity to re-vision what are considered as ‘design solutions’. The inevitable aim, to shift from only producing products for a final year degree show”, she concluded.

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