Cradle to Cradle Design

I've been told by my partner which whom I get involved on a project with, about a today's design strategy for business growth and prosperity that generates ecological, social and economic value. This is a manifesto of William McDonough and Michael Braungart stated on their book title Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

It is at first a response to widespread environmental degradation that has been caused by the flawed design system of the Industrial revolution. This degradation process is known as Cradle to Grave, where something from the beginning losses its value after being used.

Actually, before this paradigm, many industries have adopted a strategy named "eco-efficiency" which is minimizing waste, pollution, and natural resource depletion. But then approved that this strategy is not for long-term success. It then becomes a destructive system sustainable. Because, there is nothing perfectly efficient in this world.

In Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart argue that the conflict between industry and the environment is not an outcome of commerce but an outgrowth of purely opportunistic design. The design of products and manufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolution reflected the spirit of the day-and surrendered a host of unintended yet tragic consequences.

And this is it. Design can reflect a new spirit. With the growing knowledge of living earth today, designers can use the intelligence of natural systems that includes the effectiveness of nutrient cycling, the large quantity of the sun's energy where they can create products, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans that allow nature and commerce to productively co-exist together.

Cradle to Cradle offers practical steps on how to innovate within today's economic environment. Part social history, part green business primer, part design manual, the book makes plain that the re-invention of human industry is not only within our grab, it is our best hope for a future of sustaining prosperity.

The central design principle of eco-effectiveness that used here is waste equals food.
where all materials are viewed as continuously valuable, circulating in closed loops of production, use, and recycling. So there's no downgrading on the value from the used materials because it reproduced to be a something new with new function but still has the same value.

Now, let's see how this design concept putted to practice.
despite what has been written above about its flow of materials in cradle-to-cradle life cycles, healthy biological and technical metabolisms require the use of healthy chemical and material inputs,it also includes the evaluation and optimization of all chemical and material inputs throughout product life cycles. Evaluation and optimization ensures maximum material health and safety to humans and the environment, as well as maximum material quality over many life cycles, and effective and efficient use of energy inputs.

A landscape architect we know use this design strategy is Martha Schwartz.
She believes that landscape architecture has a positive influence on people by providing an environment that engenders freedom of thought, creativity, and curiosity and it is from those beliefs and values that our designs are realized. her design philosophy emanates from a strong passion for exploring our surrounding environments and pursuing quality over quantity that then motivates herself to conduct extensive research and develop flexible design frameworks that conceive developments as part of the landscape and it furthermore inspires her to bring total commitment of time, talent and energy to each of her project.

Here' s some of her projects, check it out:

Central Park Gartenstadt Laaerberg / Vienna, Austria

Marina Linear Park / San Deigo, CA

Coventry Squares / Coventry, England



But I do not know exactly how and where she puts this Cradle to cradle design strategy to her designs. So, I think I need more discussions and readings about it. Hehehe, but it's pretty nice having this kind of knowledge in almost the end of this last semester. ^^