4 things a week: Elon
1.World
I watched the film Billy Elliot a couple of weeks back. Coincidentally the same week that the last coal mine in the UK shut its doors. Environmentalists are celebrating. And rightly so. We have no longer reliant on the most polluting form of energy in this country. But yet I find it hard not to dig into the fallout from closing down an industry that just over 40 years ago employed 200,000 people in the UK. For miners, mining wasn’t just a job, it was an identity. Closing a mine left whole villages out of work and even today, ex-mining towns are some of the poorest areas in the country. The health and security of future generations will certainly be improved by the decision to move away from coal power, but what about the families left struggling to put food on the table because their profession no longer exists? I had a similar conversation about cow farmers the other day with an expert in the environmental impact of the food industry; their attitude was ‘well it’s up to them - move on or get left behind’.
This morning that I draw parallels with this statement and some of the sentiment online with regards to Musk reigniting the Space Age after his successful Starship launch. There are clearly those that believe that the future of the human race transcends Earth, that, in the words of Author Devon Eriksen “all of our arguments about conditions on this planet become obsolete, because the whole planet becomes just one suburban neighbourhood.” I’m done a fair amount of future thinking. I was an Associate Lecturer in Design Futures at the Royal College of Art for 4 years. We explored themes of space colonisation, post-humanism, and apocalyptic climate change. I believe that the industrial revolution opened Pandora’s box and we are hastily moving toward a state of humanity that would be completely unrecognisable to us today. But what I hope will be recognisable is the planet we are living on now. Because whilst the few might well have ‘transcended’ Earth, the majority will indeed be ‘left behind’.
2.Innovation
Let's be honest… it’s been a pretty mega week for Elon. A perfect space flight test, a self-driving car and a robot that can cook eggs. I’ve mentioned that at Morrama we start every project with the questions ‘what is the reason for this to exist?’ and pretty much all of Elon’s projects fit neatly in the answer bucket ‘because we can’. I’m not saying that having a robot baby sitter wouldn’t be useful one in a while, but I’m pretty sure that by the time these are even close to being affordable, the birth rate in the world's richest countries will have declined to the point where most people wouldn’t need them anyway. That’s not to say that I’m not in awe though.
The robot; Optimus, is scarily good. The movie iRobot was a huge favourite in my household as a kid, so I totally understand the comparisons. And if I think too hard about it, it freaks me out. But as I think the chances of me interacting with one F2F any time soon are pretty slim, I'll put it out of mind. The Robotaxi is like the Cybertruck and a Porshe had a baby. Whether it works anywhere near as good as it looks remains to be seen, but if I had a choice between a Robotaxi or a Google Waymo, I know which I would choose. Of COURSE i want to feel like I'm in Bladerunner over Wall-E.
If there is one thing you have to give Musk credit for, he captures imaginations. Design is not an afterthought. Whilst Google is taking the soft and fluffy approach, Musk is all out futuristic sci-fi fantasy. For all the jokes laid on the Cybertruck by the Linked-In naysayers when that first came out, the majority of people (who matter) have gone crazy for it. You got to know your audience, Elon certainly does.
3.Morrama
Coming back to the hear and now and focusing on saving out planet rather than escaping from it...
I’m joining forces with the incredible Leyla Acaroglu in November to bring you a workshop on designing for the circular economy, with a deep dive into the latest standards for circular design from the International Organization for Standardization. Sounds like a snooze fest I know, but that’s why we’re making it practical, concise and packing it all into a single day. Why is it important you know about this standard from the ISO? Well it’s linked to new legislation that will soon affect most businesses selling into EU. Find out more and express your interest here: https://lnkd.in/ghAa8mij
4.Inspiration
Two of the Design Declares team Sruti Gidugu and Oliver Lloyd have started a mini series, interviewing designers who have signed the declaration about their practice and how they integrate sustainability into their design work. It's well worth watching, which you can do by following Design Declares. So go do it now! :D
Here is an introduction from Sruti & Oliver.
