Giuditta Sartori Mat a.y / 2015

Transcription

1 UpKit

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3 Giuditta Sartori Mat a.y / 2015

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5 Politecnico di Milano School of Design Double degree master in Product Service System Design Tutors Francesco Zurlo from Politecnico di Milano and Yang Weqing from Tongji University of Shanghai

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7 Upkit: the approach and methods for generate ideas in Upcycle design field 7

8 摘要 当我还是个孩子的时候, 我和我的祖父会花整个下午来制作一些小物件, 如利用建筑房屋剩余物料来制作便携式鸟屋 老鼠和蜗牛 我总是能够发现机会重新利用材料制作有用的东西, 这让我觉得非常有趣和令人兴奋 现在回想起来, 我还对那些充满快乐和乐趣的下午记忆犹新 经验丰富的老人伴随着一个五岁孩子的单纯和创造力足以做出伟大的事情 直到几年前, 我才明白我和祖父做过的项目是利用一个简单和有趣的方式做的升级利用项目 工业革命之前, 当利用新技术去制作新东西的成本大于利用旧材料制作的成本时, 升级利用成了一个不争的事实 面料分为纤维如羊毛和棉花, 再次分解后纺织成新产品 亨利 福特甚至也参与过升级利用的早期形式, 他利用了装汽车零部件的板条箱来制作汽车底板 在可持续的未来, 我认为我们不可能像今天这样用破坏的方法来对待自然资源 实际上, 我们根本不需要浪费, 因为毕竟浪费是一个问题, 我今天认为的浪费在未来可能会 V

9 被视为资源 在某种程度上, 升级利用过程是顺理成章的, 我们可以每个人身上找到态度, 但真正的升级利用项目需要一套规则和目标, 去帮助维持可持续的方法和可复制和可分解的数量 答案是一个新趋势 : 升级利用 升级利用是使材料转化为更高价值的东西的过程, 大于或等于 二次生命 它已经越来越被认为是一个很有前景的方式去减少物质和能源的使用, 并产生可持续的生产和消费 升级利用设计是我一直以来的一个兴趣爱好, 我想强调的是设计师的创造力如何能成为一个伟大的工具来提高和给出实际的想法让材料再利用, 否则只是浪费 这项工作可能给启发和帮助设计师在升级利用项目的设计阶段提供一个可持续的方法, 旨在重用废料作为设计对象, 旨在通过给废物提供额外价值, 从而减少对环境的影响, 处理一个升级利用项目意味着遵守规则, 构建一个方向清晰的流程 我努力提高我在这个领域的经验, 开始做一些项目, 包括在米兰时尚领域的一些创业项目, 在米兰我与 Riva ( 成立于 1920 年, 著名的意大利木材公司 ) 合作设计了升级利用珠宝系列 在米兰现有四家商店在出售我们升级利用的产品 在中国我也找到了自我提升的方法, 将我学到的知识充分运用到项目上, 在无锡江南大学我参与了利用工业废料制作四轮升级利用设计, 也参与了最近在上海举行的中国 2015 GIGA 材料挑战大赛, 在这两个项目中我都收获了荣誉 本文主要从探索升级利用主题想法的角度出发, 并提出启发人们这一现象的具体解决方案, 或一个新的趋势 在以下几页中将讲到米兰和无锡的项目, 阐述设计师是怎样作为团体和产生废料的公司之间的桥梁,, 但是我的论文中最重要的是如何帮助设计师创建升级利用项目和如何传播这些知识 因为我在意大利上大学, 所以我的设计过程中使用了产品服务系统设计方法 产品服务系统是社会变化从关注生产和消费产品到产品与服务组件高度集成取代传统的材料密集生产的系统, 为满足个人和组织通过使用更多的非物质化的系统解决方案需求提供了可能性 本文的目的是奠定基础, 并强调需要一个工具, 有助于产生可持续改造环境的想法, 科学地解释这个新趋势 升级利用 如何有两方面的积极作用 首先对环境, 避免了原材料的使用和加工过程中能源浪费 第二对经济, 公司处理废料的成本因为升级利用可以成为利润 帮助设计师产生创意的工具和方法是一门相当新的学科, 但这已渗透到不同的领域, 从设计一个网站或应用程序到婚礼设计 升级利用也是开启了第一次科学探索的里程碑, 支持本论文的观点 升级利用是一个可持续的处理废料的方式 目的在于建造通往设计方式和升级利用的之间桥梁 关键词 : 升级利用 可持续沟通 工具包 升级利用平台 VI

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12 Until I was a child with my grandfather I spent the afternoons to build small objects such as portable bottle taps small birdhouses using waste materials of the house under construction. I always found it very fun to have the opportunity to reuse materials to build something useful. Looking back now that I grew remember those afternoons with so much joy and so much fun. The simplicity and the creativity of a child of only five years alongside the experience of an elderly person is capable of great things. Few years ago, I understand that the projects I have done with my grandfather were upcycle projects in an easy and funny way. Before the Industrial Revolution, when new technologies made it more cost-effective to create new things rather than reuse them, upcycling was a fact of life. Fabrics were separated into fibers like wool and cotton, broken down again and spun into new products. Henry Ford even practiced an early form of upcycling, using the crates car parts were shipped in as vehicle floorboards. In a sustainable future, I think it is impossible to treat our natural resources in the wreck less manner that we do today. Actually we do not need waste at all, because after all, waste is a question of perception what I consider as waste today could be considered as resources in the future. In a way, the upcycle process is something natural and we can find some attitude in every human being but the real upcycle project need a set of rules and goal that help to preserve the sustainable approach and output that could be replicable and be disassembled. The answer is a new trend: upcycle. Upcycling is a process in which used materials are converted into something of higher value and/or quality in their second life. It has been increasingly and recognized as one promising means to reduce material and energy use, and to engender sustainable production and consumption. The upcycle is a passion that I cultivate a long time, and what I want to highlight is how the designer s creativity can become a great tool to enhance and give practical ideas for reuse of materials that would otherwise be just waste. This work introduces a possibility to educate and help the designer to have a sustainable approach during the designing phase of upcycle project, which are aimed at reusing waste materials in design objects, aiming at reducing the environmental impact of their disposal, by providing to them an added value. Tackling an upcycle project means following rules, structured within a well defined process. I try to improve my experience in this area, creating some projects including a start-up in the fashion IX

13 field based in Milan, where I create some collections of upcycled jewelry in partnership with Riva in 1920 (famous Italian wood company). Now four shops in Milan selling our upcycle products. Also here in China I was able to grow a personal approach and I applied my knowledge in the project for the four round of Upcycling design of industry leftovers, in Jiangnan University, Wuxi and the last context that I made in China at GIGA Material Challenge 2015, Shanghai. In both I won a prize. This thesis is born from the desire to explore the theme of upcycle and propose a concrete solution that will educate people to this phenomenon, including a new dynamic. Designer as a bridge between the communities and companies that produce waste, how will show in the following pages for Milan and Wuxi projects, but the most important thing that became the output of my thesis is how to help he designer to create a upcycle project and how to spread this knowledge? Since my Italian university background, I uses the Product Service System Design approach in the design process. Product-service systems means that the society change from a focus on producing and consuming products to a society where the service components are increasingly replacing the more traditional material intensive ways of product manifestation, that provides individuals and organizations with the possibility to fulfil needs through the provision of more dematerialized system solutions. The purpose of this thesis is to lay the foundations and to highlight the need to have a tool that helps to generate ideas in the context of sustainable upcycle, and explain how this new trend upcycle is having a twofold positive effect. First for the environment, avoiding the use of raw materials and waste of energy for processing. Second for economic, because the disposal costs of companies thanks to upcycle can become profit. The tools and methods to help the designer in developing ideas are a fairly new discipline, but that is penetrating into different areas from design a website or application up to the toolkit for designing weddings. Upcycle is also a world that is beginning to discover the first scientific bases that support the thesis that the approach upcycle could be a sustainable way to dispose of waste. The project want to design this bridge between the design methods and the world of upcycle. Key Words: Upcycle, Sustainable Communication, Toolkit, Upcycle Platform X

14 INDEX ABSTRACT INDEX LIST OF FIGURES V XI XIV 01. The grassroots of sustainable approach 1.1 Are we in the bubble? 1.2 The waste situation in the world 1.3 Upcycle: the story and the method 1.4 First pillar: spread a sustainable business 1.5 Second pillar: community as an inspiration 1.6 Third pillar: less bad is not good 02. Approach and methods: product serice system design as a main driver for the project and research development 2.1 Product service system design approach 2.2 Emphatize and finalize the research 2.3 Ideation and definition of the idea 2.4 Fix the design parameter 03. Research: analysis of the upcycle field and design 3.1 Current body of literature about upcycle XI

15 3.2 Four types of upcycle context 3.3 The behaviors today: survey and interview 3.4 University, experience in the field 3.5 Gamification and generation of knowledge 3.6 Design method: cards 3.7 Frame the main challenges 04. Project: the cards method became a bridge between designers and upcycle ideas 4.1 Personas 4.2 Main challenge and what if 4.3 Deck of cards and book for generate knoledge 4.4 What, when, where and how use upkit 4.5 Web site: open source aproach 05. Design: touch-points 5.1 Design and graphic 5.2 Pilot and prototyping 5.3 Feasibility of the project CONCLUSIONS 192 APPENDIX 1. Product service system design approach 2. Upcycle definition 3. Upcycle company 4. Upcycle survey BIBLIOGRAPHY LINKOGRAPHY GLOSSARY XII

16 LIST OF FIGURES Fig World production of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), 2012*-2015 Fig A child eats breakfast in a garbage dump, where hundreds of people live and make a living by recycling waste and making charcoal, in the Tondo section of Manila, Dec. 9, Photo by Darren Whiteside/Reuters. Fig These boys navigate through heaps of rubbish on the streets of Santa Fe, Argentina. Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters Fig These boys balance over a murky puddle in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo by Andrew Biraj/Reuters Fig Sana, a 5-year-old girl, plays on a cloth sling hanging from a signaling pole as smoke from a garbage dump rises next to a railway track in Mumbai, India, in Photo by Vivek Prakash/Reuters Fig. 1.6 Triangle that represents the scale of importance of waste disposal Fig Pablo Picasso, 1942, Tête de taureau (Bull s Head), Bicycle seat and handlebars, 33.5 x 43.5 x 19 cm, Musée Picasso, Paris Fig Three models representing the Design process. Fig Cumulative frequency of the number of the XIII

17 sampled publications about Upcycle Fig Loopworks label of second skin of pc. Fig H&M campaign for old clothes. Fig Terracycle process and products Fig Recyclebank website Fig Hipcycle products sells on website Fig Above the system map and the encounters maps of MIDA Fig Me and my partner in the factory choosing wood waste and below the ring collection. Fig The covers of the MIDA catalogs Fig Riva 1920 waste materials using for create the product Fig MIDA, Man collections of upcycle bowties Fig MIDA, Woman collections of upcycle rings Fig People that are participated in the upcycle contest in Wuxi Fig Main upcycle materials Fig Me and my team that are testing and working on upcycle project in Wuxi Fig Me and my team with the upcycle project Fig Deck cards analysis and competitors Fig Deck cards analysis Fig Picture made by Santtu Mustonen Fig The upcycled Neckless Fig BBC news reportage from India waste situations Fig Photo of cards toolkit Fig Illustrations of personas Fig Five process steps Fig The map of the tools design connected with the process steps Fig Upkit elements Fig Upkit cards divided in 5 process cards, 17 eco pillars cards and 33 tools cards Fig Photo and illustrations of UpKit cards deck Fig Photo and illustrations of UpKit Guide Book Fig Photo and illustrations of UpKit Notes Map Fig The 13 types of the maps that are inside the Notes Map XIV

18 Fig The illustrations for the personas and the places Fig Illustrations about the use of the Upkit Fig Upkit user journey map Fig Schematization of formats and optimization of the space for the realization of the toolkit Fig. 5.2 Color palette of UpKit Fig. 5.3 Structure of UpKit logo Fig Graphics and colors of the cards tools Fig Graphics and colors of the Eco pillars cards Fig Graphics and colors of the maps inside the Notes map Fig Prototyping graphics of the tool kit Fig Photo of personas that made the prototyping Fig Prototyping the experience storyboard Fig Upkit business model canvas XV

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22 THE GRASSROOTS OF SUSTAINABLE APPROACH 1.1 Are we in the bubble? Sustainability significantly challenges social and aesthetics norms. Indeed, the development of more viable ways of living implies changes in the way we look at objects and, more globally, on the way we interact with the material world. It also involves changes in the way we construct the built environment and, therefore, in the way things look. We can observe that, the more a design solution presents environmental potential, the more the solution in question is likely to look different from what we know. (Anne Marchand, Stuart Walker, P. De Coninck, Management of natural resources: sustainable development and ecological hazards, C. A. Brebbia, M.E. Conti, E. Tiezzi, 2006). From design a product for a concrete need to sell every kind of products though the advertising campaign. Today most of the people are under control of mass production through the advertisement campaign. We are buried of unnecessary objects and every time we desired something that we do not need, and so we are growing uneducated, we cannot understand what we really need. In the Design for real world, Papanek wrote: Much recent design has satisfied only evanescent wants and desires, while the genuine needs of man have often been neglected by the designer. (Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change; Pantheon Books, 1971). There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but 22

23 only a very few of them. Only one profession is phonier: Advertising design. The work consist in persuading people to buy things they don t need, with money they don t have, in order to impress others who don t care, is probably the phoniest field in existence today. Industrial design, by concocting the tawdry idiocies hawked by advertisers, comes a close second. Never before in history have grown men sat down and seriously designed electric hairbrushes, rhinestone-covered file boxes, and mink carpeting for bathrooms, and then drawn up elaborate plans to make and sell these gadgets to millions of people. Before, if a person liked killing people, he had to become a general, purchase a coalmine, or else study nuclear physics. Today, industrial design has put murder on a massproduction basis. By designing criminally unsafe automobiles that kill or maim nearly one million people around the world each year, by creating whole new species of permanent garbage to clutter up the landscape, and by choosing materials and processes that pollute the air we breathe, designers have become a dangerous breed. In an age of mass production when everything must be planned and designed, design has become the most powerful tool with which man shapes his tools and environments. This demands high social and moral responsibility from the designer. It also demands greater understanding of the people by those who practice design and more insight into the design process by the public. For thirty years, John Thackara has traveled the world in his search of stories about the practical steps taken by communities to realize a sustainable future. Community is important keyword. What means community today? Design could be unique way of analyzing a community in a more holistic and multidisciplinary manner. For this reason, I am not focused on the single user but on the entire community as the enabler of local change, as a resource to be valorized and from which to learn. Design professionals are required to have two main competences: on one hand the ability to gain knowledge about the community by field immersion and to develop empathic relations with its members. On the other hand, to use design knowledge to design with and for the community, developing tools to enable the co-design of new solutions coherent 23

24 with the context and allowing non-designers to apply their knowledge and professional skills to the issues discussed. John Thackara born in 1951, studied philosophy and journalism, and is now designers the founder and Director of The Doors of Perception. He is a writer, speaker and design producer. From 1993 to 1999, he was the first Director of the Netherlands Design Institute. In 2001, he directed Design of the time biennale, which takes place in the North-East of England. In 2008, he directed City Eco Lab at the Cité du Design Saint-Etienne, French design biennial. We are filling up the world with technology and devices, but we have lost sight of an important question: What is this stuff for? What value does it add to our lives? So asks author John Thackara in his new book, In the Bubble: Designing for a Complex World; to get a glimpse of what this designer had to say about sustainability and society. Are addressed ten categories on which the author of the book considers how you could improve and produce less waste? The questions is about what it means sustainability. Thackara s intention is to describe the world in which we live to open your eyes. He describes a transformation that is taking place now not in a remote science fiction future; it s not about, as he puts it, the schlock of the new but about radical innovation already emerging in daily life. In the bubble is the result of encounters and shared experiences over several years that gave rise to the questions. In fact, every concept that John Thackara expresses in his book is supported by both positive and negative examples. It also adds his father and designer experience that enriches the readings and open to new ways of seeing things. From this book I have learn a number of lessons, the most important is what I decided to put in my opening thesis of the quote of the aviator. If you want to build a ship, do not divide the work and give orders; teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. (John Thackara, In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World; Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2005.) The French aviator and writer Antoine Saint-Exupe ry. When I found myself designing the most important questions: what I am planning to do? Are there needs? Today so many products would be enough intelligent services to prevent it would produce other 24

25 useless products. Another keyword is education, how designer could educate community to look the future and improve the lifestyle? Every day all the people are facing problem, and waste a lot of product without understand the possibility about what they have in their hands. The upcycle does not mean just create something new, but use something that already exists for create a new product. There are many rules that the designer have to follow when decided to create an upcycle project or the design of a new facility in a sustainable way by following precise rules because product is one hundred percent sustainable. So the questions that arises is what is the difference between upcycle and recycle? Above all, can it say that one is better than the other is? However, before answering these questions I would like to introduce a historical basis that better explains what the one and the other, who are the founding fathers, the theories behind, before coming to a real confrontation. So what is the role of designer today? Maybe a new way to use what we have done could be a way. Now the upcycle process comes to designers as a feasible and a plausible solution to give new life to old products, which will inevitably become waste. Victor Papanek died in 1998, but 40 years after his book Design for the real world was first published, it is still in print and hugely influential and he is praised as a pioneer of sustainable and humanitarian design. One of my first jobs after leaving school was to design a table radio Papanek wrote in Design for the Real World. This was shroud design: the design of external covering of the mechanical and electrical guts. It was my first, and I hope my last, encounter with appearance design, styling, or design cosmetics. (John Thackara, In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World; Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2005.) And further, he opined: Only a small part of our responsibility lies in the area of aesthetics. Papanek traveled around the world, he gave lectures about his ideas for ecologically sound design and designs to serve the poor, the disabled, the elderly and other minority segments of society. He wrote or co-wrote eight books. How could the designer, who must make a living actually serve real needs of human beings? 25

26 I have tried to demonstrate that by freely giving 10 percent of his time, talents, and skills the designer can help. In other words, a willingness to volunteer. Design can and must become a way in which people can participate in changing society. 1.2 The waste situation in the world The idea of sustainability is inspired by the late discoveries of anthropogenic impacts on the natural environment and the conclusion that current patterns of human activity cannot be sustained indefinitely. Sustainability is the ultimate future goal. However, the current global situation is in a condition of unsustainability that can be characterized by three critical trends: overpopulation and continuing population growth, especially in developing countries. Accelerating resource exploitation and increasing pollution levels, primarily by the developed countries, but increasingly in different countries in transition. Over-consumption, especially in developed countries. With the rise of modern industrial civilization, our demand for resources is increasing, resulting in the decrease of primary resources. Today, we are meeting the bottleneck of resources shortage and environmental destruction. It has become one of the main themes of social development: how to reduce wasting, improve the efficiency of existing resources utilization and even make the recycle of resource end endlessly. Therefore, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle have been the three principles of circular economy in the new century. The amount of garbage humans throw away is rising fast and will not peak this century without transformational changes in how we use and reuse materials. By 2100, they estimate, the growing global urban population will be producing three times as much waste as it does today. That level of waste carries serious consequences for cities around the world. In the earlier report, they warned that global solid waste generation was on pace to increase 70 percent by 2025, rising from more than 3.5 million tons per day in 2010 to more than 6 million tons per day by The waste from cities alone is already enough to fill a line of trash trucks 5,000 kilometers long every day. 26

27 Fig World production of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), 2012*

28 The world market for waste and recycling was worth $450 billion in Extrapolating data from an extensive study by the Paris- Dauphiné University in France, it has been established that unwanted stuff weighs each year some four billion tons of which only 2.7 billion is collected. The rest pollutes and represents a health hazard. The total volume recycled is roughly established at one billion tons. The one billion richest of the world generate 1.4 kg per person per day, while the 2.4 billion poorest produce 0.6 kg waste per day. The USA and Australia top the list of waste generators in the world. Turkey sends 97 percent of its waste to landfill sites, whereas the Switzerland only disposes 0.5 percent in or under the ground. Japan leads the world in incineration, burning 74 percent of all waste, followed by Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland with approximately 50 percent going up in smoke. The largest recycling program is energy recovery, which unfortunately leaves toxic waste behind. In Europe, this waste treatment is good for 200 million tons annually. This includes 7.3 million tons of plastics, in addition to the 5 million tons that are recycled. With 49 percent, Korea has the best recycling rate for municipal waste. Italy and Spain score approximately 30 percent Fig A child eats breakfast in a garbage dump, where hundreds of people live and make a living by recycling waste and making charcoal, in the Tondo section of Manila, Dec. 9, Photo by Darren Whiteside/Reuters. 28

29 Fig These boys navigate through heaps of rubbish on the streets of Santa Fe, Argentina. Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters Fig These boys balance over a murky puddle in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo by Andrew Biraj/ Reuters 29

30 Fig Sana, a 5-year-old girl, plays on a cloth sling hanging from a signaling pole as smoke from a garbage dump rises next to a railway track in Mumbai, India, in Photo by Vivek Prakash/ Reuters while countries like Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark only recover between 15 and 17 percent. Hungary only recycles 1.1 percent according to the latest figures available, while the Netherlands score a surprisingly poor 2.3 percent. After energy recovery, composting is the second most widely applied recycling practice representing 100 million tons worldwide each year. If we were to include human waste, it could easily increase ten-fold, while generating methane gas and replenish the top soil. Metal scraps and paper have a better market value and therefore each recycles 400 and 250 million tons respectively. These numbers are official and part of the formal economy. The developing world recycles informally and broadly, practices re-use. Recycling is an economic necessity with the additional benefit of reducing the load on landfills by 75 to 95 percent and providing some form of livelihood. Cairo, the capital of Egypt has an estimated 40,000 persons involved in the informal recycling business. From 2002 onwards, the majority of raw material markets were faced with 30

31 shortages and price hikes. World economic growth and the takeoff of the Chinese economy have been at the root of this challenge to respond to demand that ended two decades of the illusion of abundance. At the same time, secondary markets for the recovery and recycling of waste saw prices multiplied under the appetite of China. The proportion of secondary markets for materials such as paper and non-ferrous metals was by 2010 already larger than the primary market based on forestry and mining. The worldwide plastic production was 280 million tons in 2011 and production levels are growing every year. Its haphazard disposal causes severe environmental damage such as the creation of the Great Pacific garbage patch. In order to solve this problem, the employment of modern technologies and processes to reuse the waste plastic as a cheap substrate is under research. The goal is to bring this material from the waste stream back into the mainstream by developing processes, which will create an economic demand for them. One approach in the field involves the conversion of waste plastics (like LDPE, PET, and HDPE) into paramagnetic, conducting microspheres or into carbon nanomaterials by applying high temperatures and chemical vapor deposition. On a molecular level, the treatment of polymers like polypropylene or thermoplastics with electron beams (doses around 150 kgy) can increase the material properties like bending strength and elasticity and provides an eco-friendly and sustainable way to upcycle them. PET could be converted into the biodegradable PHA by using a combination of temperature and microbial treatment. First it gets pyrolized at 450 C and the resulting terephthalic acid is used as a substrate for microorganisms, which convert it finally into PHA. Similar to the aforementioned approach is the combination of nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes with powdered orange peel as a composite material. This might be used to remove synthetic dyes from wastewater. Biotechnology companies have recently shifted focus towards the conversion of agricultural waste, or biomass, to different chemicals or commodities. One company in particular, BioTork, has signed an agreement with the State of Hawaii and the USDA to convert the unmarketable papayas in Hawaii into fish feed. As part of this Zero Waste Initiative put forth by the State of Hawaii, BioTork will upcycle the otherwise wasted biomass into a high quality, omega-rich fish feed. 31

32 The concept of sustainable development is the compass of product designing, experimental and commercial exploration, making an important contribution to the global low-carbon development. It is predicted that the primary resources will be decreasing rapidly in 30 years later and half of the resources we need will come from the recycling of solid waste. The industry of renewable resource has numerous kinds. As the utilization of industrial waste is constrained by the management system, market regulation, industry concentration, pollution management, technology levels, production efficiency, social participation and other aspects of the industry in various countries, and they are not utilized fully and effectively yet. In many countries, especially developing countries, some of these resources are recycled and made into raw materials, while more are treated as rubbish, which caused huge waste of resources. Taking China the world factory for instance, at present, some renewable resources are still not well developed and used because of improper management and outdated technology. It is reported that about 2 to 3 million tons of ferrous waste, 6 million tons of waste paper, 2 million tons of cullet, 700 thousand tons of waste plastic, 300 thousand tons of waste fibers, 300 thousand tons of waste rubber and 4 thousand tons of fly ash are not recycled or reused properly. Those raw materials that are in good quality can just be downgraded to produce primary or low-level productions. For example, when recycling copper base, aluminum base and aluminum base alloy, they basically are melted down and refined to produce pure metals and a large amount of metals are wasted. China loses ten thousand tons of metals in ferrous waste every year. Therefore, using and promoting renewable resources are extremely urgent now, which is in close relation to the continuity of humans life and production and will be the key to the sustainable and stable development of national economy and human society. The discipline of upcycle faces this great problem of the world situation of waste as a plausible solution. The solutions that begin to deal with this problem start at a local level, such as km0 production, which it is supported by the principle of diminishing the cost of energy and reduce packaging and additional materials for shipment. The second factor use to face this problem is use a systemic approach to the process. Today upcycle more and more seeks to become a process that can also be incorporated in a system 32

33 Fig. 1.6 Triangle that represents the scale of importance of waste disposal of mass production. 1.3 Upcycle: the story and the method Upcycling is the opposite of downcycling. Downcycling involves converting converting valuable products into low-value raw materials. For example: creating recycled papers from paper, creating rags from clothing, Although downcycling helps the planet because it keeps things out of landfills (for a time at least) many times it will eventually end up there. Downcycling is where you reclaim a material for reuse in a product of lesser value or in some way compromise the integrity of the material through the reclamation process; meaning it cannot be used in making the original product. Downcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of lesser quality and reduced functionality. Downcycling aims to prevent wasting potentially useful materials, reduce consumption of fresh raw materials, energy usage, air pollution and water pollution. Its goals are also lowering greenhouse gas emissions (though re-use of tainted toxic chemicals for other purposes can have the opposite effect) as compared to virgin production. A clear example of downcycling is plastic recycling, which turns the 33

34 material into lower grade plastics. There are many do-it-yourself downcycling crafting ideas for holidays, parties, and other events. This is not only a way to recycle objects to reduce waste; people create works of art out of downcycled materials as well. The term downcycling was used by Reiner Pilz in an interview by Thornton Kay of Salvo in We talked about the impending EU Demolition Waste Streams directive. He despairs of the German situation and recalls the supply of a large quantity of reclaimed woodblock from an English supplier for a contract in Nuremberg while just down the road a load of similar blocks was scrapped. It was a pinky looking aggregate with pieces of handmade brick, old tiles and discernible parts of useful old items mixed with crushed concrete. Is this the future for Europe? The term downcycling was also used by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. As we have noted, most recycling is actually downcycling; it reduces the quality of a material over time. When plastics other than those found in soda and water bottles are recycled, they are mixed with different plastics to produce a hybrid of lower quality, which is then molded into something amorphous and cheap, such as a park bench or a speed bump... Aluminum is another valuable but constantly downcycled material. The typical soda can consists of two kinds of aluminum: the walls are composed of aluminum, manganese alloy with some magnesium, plus coatings and paint, while the harder top is aluminum magnesium alloy. In conventional recycling these materials are melted together, resulting in a weaker and less useful product. While downcycling is criticized for reducing the value of a product, it is justified in terms of reducing the energy and CO2 emissions that would be entailed in producing products from scratch with new raw materials. Upcycling isn t new. During the 1930s and 40s many families suffered economically and had to be thrifty just to get by, as the goods they required were hard to come by. Upcycling was common place, converting old possessions into required resources. Today, in many poor countries upcycling is a still day to day occurrence with families creating clothes from food sacks, tables from old doors and cups from tin cans. Upcycling is a way of adding value to waste. In some cases recycling processes can achieve these aims; however, energy and water savings can be made by avoiding reprocessing 34

35 materials to a virgin state. In many cases, recycling also results in a downgrading of the material s constructions. Remanufacturing is a method of extending product lifecycles through reuse and reconstruction of products in closed loop cycles the primary aim of upcycling is to refashion and integrate discarded components and materials into a new range of diverse products within openloop cycles. Upcycling is new method of recycling that will not consume energy is becoming more and more prevalent. Upcycling is based on recycling and an upgraded one that will leave less carbon footprints. To upcycle something is to take a used object and adapt it in an innovative way to a new function. Unlike recycling, which usually involves breaking down the material an object is made from, before it is made into something else, upcycling involves using something in a new way without doing anything to reprocess the material it s made from. As well as being more energy efficient, another major benefit of upcycling is that it makes it possible to reuse items made of materials, which could not be dealt with by conventional recycling methods. When something is upcycled, nothing, or very little, is discarded, with every component part or material having a potential use. The spirit of upcycling is using the raw material in a different way without changing it. Therefore, when using these raw materials, designers often choose to recombine them and make them into useful appliances or beautiful artworks. Actually, even though it is in recent years that the concept of upcycling enters the life of common people, many artists and designers already did this before. Among them, the most famous one is the sculpture of Bull s Head by Picasso (1942) and the birth of this sculpture had an interesting story. Picasso was not only a famous painter with enormous creation but also fond of collecting waste metals. Picasso was not only a famous painter with enormous creation but also fond of collecting waste metals. One day, he saw an old man with an old and broken bicycle in the street. Suddenly, the inspiration came and Picasso asked the old man to give him the old bicycle. The old man thought that the bicycle was really worn out and could not ride at all, so he agreed to give it to him without hesitation. After bringing back the bicycle, Picasso knocked down 35

36 Fig Pablo Picasso, 1942, Tête de taureau (Bull s Head), Bicycle seat and handlebars, 33.5 x 43.5 x 19 cm, Musée Picasso, Paris the handlebars and saddles and combined them into a head of a bull. The sculpture was an innovation in the history of art and became the representative work of ready make. From then on, numerous artists followed the steps of Picasso to use finished products to make sculptures. Sustainable development is advocated in four core fields: environment, economy, people s livelihood and the continuity and diversity of culture. Thus, in recent years, as sustainable development is accepted by more and more people, works of upcycling are emerging, which show the diversity of creativity and design concept in modern society. Human s spiritual and cultural life is enriched in the promotion of environmental-friendly products and low-carbon life. Here we have some upcycling works of two groups of designers. Every 36

37 product is made by a variety of energy consumption. In view of energy consumption, the more complicated a product structure is, the more energy will be consumed; the more parts a product has and more complex the process is, the more energy will be used. Industrial waste materials are just what upcycling needs. They will not be crushed or melted but made into new products in their original forms and shapes by using our inspiration. It means that to endow the waste with new function through innovation, combination and redesigning so that their life can last. Usually, upcycling begins from designing. Designers transform the old items by inspiration to enable them to have new functions. There is not energy consumption in upcycling and each part has its own potential uses, so little or no material will be discarded. Comparing with producing new products, upcycling can save energy by 60 % and materials by 70% and decrease air pollutants emission by more than 80%, which is significant to energy conservation and emission reduction. Through upcycling the value of the old items is increased because they are environmental-friendly, low-carbon and have intellectual property rights. The value is a reflection of people s seeking for environmental protection and low-carbon and also enriches people s role is environmental protection as well as the connotation of thrift of recycling economy. On top of the market value, a good piece of upcycle work hides and bears many meanings, such as innovation, inheritance of techniques and social harmony. Upcycling already exists as a post-production process in certain industry niches. Companies such as Terracycle and Freitag are exemplars of the practice, having established manufacturing businesses around the reuse of waste in products that re-enter consumer cycles. Terracycle, a multi-million dollar enterprise in the US, began by producing worm poop fertilizer which is packaged in reused PET drink bottles. They have since developed a whole range of products, including pencil cases and tote bags made from food and drink packaging, flower pots from e-waste, and wall-clocks from discarded records (Szarky 2009). Freitag (2011) similarly make a number of ranges of courier bags, handbags and wallets from truck tarpaulins, bike inner tubes and car seatbelts, Transforming used truck tarps into highly functional, unique bags takes place in five highly complex stages at the F-actory. Lumenlab (2008) retails 37

38 kits for DIY digital data projectors where the primary component is a reused LCD monitor. These examples, however, demonstrate upcycling as a post-production process, where alternative ways to responsibly reuse existing EoL products are sought at the point of that product s EoL. While the project outlined below operated within this realm, further research aims to develop upstream methods for designing products to be upcycled. By building on lessons learned, it is expected that this would help reduce landfill, open new business opportunities for recovering and reusing waste, and encourage greater product variability. Before the Industrial Revolution, when new technologies made it more cost-effective to create new things rather than reuse them, upcycling was a fact of life. Fabrics were separated into fibers like wool and cotton, broken down again and spun into new products. Henry Ford even practiced an early form of upcycling, using the crates car parts were shipped in as vehicle floorboards. After Henry Ford the first man that start to speak about the up-cycle topic was Gunter Pauli. Gunter Pauli is call also the Steve Jobs of Sustainability. Nature does not know the concept of waste; the only species capable of making something no one desires is the human species. (Gunter Pauli, The Blue Economy; Paradigm Publications 2010.) Gunter Pauli in Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives In the following pages, I want explain three different tools and pillars of Up-cycle and sustainability design: 1. The blue economy: is a portfolio of business innovations that people and companies can use such a good examples to follow, and also in this chapter will be an examples of upcycle company grew on the shoulders of blue economy method. 2. ZERI, Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives: is network to view waste as resource and seek solutions using nature s design principles as inspiration, in which the most important thing is the keyword community like a place where share knowledge and tools to face the problems and find a innovative and sustainable solutions. 38

39 3. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. They state that the goal of upcycling is to prevent wasting potentially useful materials by making use of existing ones. Moreover through their book create a method how to define if the project is sustainable or not. 1.4 First pillar: spread a sustainable business If we want to talk about upcycle one of the most important book is the Blue Economy write by Gunter Pauli that is considered the bible of this new economy, meant of all us who are working to build a better world. The Blue Economy is a portfolio of innovations that go beyond the technology. It introduces a series of competitive business models creating practical solutions. From an environmental perspective, the elimination of waste represents the ultimate solution to pollution problems that threaten ecosystems at both local and global levels. For industry, Blue Economy means greater competitiveness and represents a continuation of its inevitable drive towards ever more efficiency. For governments, the full use of raw materials creates new industries and generates jobs even as it raises productivity. Moreover, it provides the means to feed, clothe and house their populations without destroying the ability of future generations to do the same. The Blue Economy is scaling several dozen projects worldwide. It is inspired and aided by a number of leading scientists, spread across a hundred countries. They making their vision, knowledge and available services. Together with pioneering research inspired by our desire to do more with what we have. And more, it permits to offer the best products for your health and the environment at lower cost, breaking with the accepted tradition that the best should be the most expensive. The Blue Economy goes beyond the Green Economy. The present employment crisis, especially amongst the young does not permit us to pursue a business model that aims to cut costs by cutting employment, a model that offers the best for everyone s health and the environment as the most expensive. Time has come to shift 39

40 towards a competitive business model that allows producers to offer the best at the lowest prices by introducing innovations that generate multiple benefits, not just increased profits. Professor Gunter Pauli when asked by the United Nations to reflect on the business models of the future first introduced this economic philosophy in Now, substantiated by over 180 concrete cases, it is increasingly clear that it is possible to generate more revenue, while generating more jobs and still compete on the global market. The key to this dramatic shift is to evolve from a core business based on a core competence to a portfolio of businesses that generate multiple benefits for business and society. As long as corporate executives wish to pursue economies of scale, based on standardized products, secured worldwide through just-in-time deliveries and outsourcing where labor productivity is the key to success, jobless rate will continue to soar. However, if companies evolve towards the full use of all its available resources, clusters activities and cascades to higher levels of efficiency, then a new model emerges. A coffee company can generate income from the coffee, its core business, and now can generate revenue from the mushrooms farmed on the waste, and whatever is left over after harvesting the protein rich fungi is excellent animal feed. One revenue model is now transformed in a three revenue model. Companies have focused excessively on cutting costs and therefore pursued a global strategy looking for the cheapest and most flexible place of manufacturing or service delivery. However, the drive towards ever-cheaper products has resulted in an increased deprivation of cash in local economies, which have less employment but also less purchasing power, thus leading to less money circulating in the communities. This results in an economic contraction as is being experienced in numerous economies, not the least in Spain and Greece countries that suffered also from excessive government expenditure. For understand better the application of blue economy to the real case I want to present a case study of Antonia Edwards, that applied the blue economy concept for create an innovative upcycle project. From the point of view of economic theory, waste is a negative externality outside the market. Regulation is trying to correct this by internalizing post-production and post 40

41 consumption costs. However, the price setting remains a political decision through the introduction of taxes which influence the price, or emission standards which impact on the quantity. In this way, waste is given a value and the externality has now a price. It is widely agreed amongst policy makers and economists that the emergence of genuinely worldwide markets for scrap and paper mirror the development for steel and paper pulp in high demand especially in countries that lack supplies like China and Turkey. The challenge remains how to generate more value without the need of heavy taxation which is indiscriminately passed on to the consumer while offering higher quality at a competitive price. Antonia Edwards graduated from the University of Brighton with a master degree in interior design, after studying art history at the University College of London. She started her career as an interiors and fashion editor. When a creative friend of hers starting painting illustrations on old discarded chairs and tables she was stunned with the unique result. With a bit of research, Antonia realized that the concept of converting something old and unwanted into something beautiful is a problem that creatives love to solve. She feels that when one works within the parameters of prescribed materials it can spark imagination and creativity that would not necessarily arise when starting a project from scratch with materials coming from anywhere as we wish. Using what you have is one of the core principles of The Blue Economy. Antonia started an online magazine and adopted the name The Upcyclist. Since she had a broad experience with online publishing she started reporting over the internet on all things upcycled and stylish. The website quickly converted into a resource for both creatives and consumers, inspiring people to make something from recycled material, add functionality and beauty, and also buy and sell the product. Antonia differentiates herself from many other initiatives that report and support innovative reuse. She carefully selects the products with quality and style that could command a premium on the market. She positions her blog as the resource platform for the beautiful and innovative reuse of unwanted, unloved materials and objects from around the globe. Instead of the bulk reprocessing of standardized goods, she reports 41

42 on restoring, reclaiming, reviving, remaking, repurposing, reusing and re-loving. Antonia went on the create upcyclisted with materials offered and wanted, particularly for artistic projects. In less than 2 years she has featured 12 cases of architecture, 54 designers of fashion, 27 makers of furniture, 24 makers of jewelry, 10 manufacturers of lighting, 8 upcyclers of glass, and 15 small businesses working with wood. Antonia created in a couple years a platform for entrepreneurs who meet her high standards in 38 countries. In 2011 alone, Antonia reported on 178 entrepreneurial businesses. Antonia has expanded to textiles, metals, sculptures, installations, plastics and paper products identifying people and start-up companies who master the process to convert waste into quality products with a higher environmental value. Antonia is making an effort for people to take notice of the history in each object and to move away from shiny and mass produced consumables. This is giving rise to a new breed of creativity, while it offers a fresh way to perceive items we already own. Starting as an individual, reporting on single initiatives, Antonia is taking a second remarkable step, to network and compile specific opportunities under one single report like The Shirt off his Back by Juliet Bawden, covering 30 projects for transforming everyday end-of-life shirts into a range of home accessories like duvet and chair covers or light dimmers. The examples that Antonia features inspire many to enroll in the upcycling trend like Freddie Saul, whose father is the founder of the famous British fashion brand Mulberry. He worked on documenting the Upcycled Furniture Collection which is now stocked in prestigious London stores. All furniture is handmade from upcycled materials including reclaimed wood from ballroom floors. Freddie designs and manufactures now with a team in Somerset (UK). South Africa, and Cape Town in particular has developed a whole upcycling industry and while this has generated thousands of jobs, there is one designer who has now reached the heights of interior design. Katie Thompson transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary by repurposing broken and unwanted furniture. She set up the company recreate with a range of furniture lighting with tapestry print, accessories like a suitcase chair, milk bottle or typewriter lamps. Antonia operates like the Blue Economy community, creating a platform that inspires others 42

43 to do more and better. She applies the open source principles and has the ingenuity to add beauty and style to her presentations that is likely to change the perception of anything unwanted forever while giving sense and purpose not only to our material world, but also to our professions and life style. 1.5 Second pillar: community as an inspiration Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives (ZERI) is a global network of creative minds seeking solutions to world challenges. The common vision shared by the members of the ZERI family is to view waste as resource and seek solutions using nature s design principles as inspiration. They believe that time has come to go beyond the green economy, where renewable energy cannot compete without subsidies, and whatever is good for our health and the environment costs more. Time has come to respond to the basic needs of all with what they have, introducing innovations that change the business model to the point that the best is cheap and the necessary for life is free - just like the commons used to be. ZERI shows how the concept of community and the education of the masses to the responsibilities to the environment becomes a point of union among different actors in the development of innovative projects. The ZERI Foundation serves as an antenna in the world economy identifying the innovations benchmarked somewhere, spotting early on the high growth industries of the next decade. When there is a crisis, many businesses suffer, but some thrive. Which are the ones that are the job providers of the future? Which are the technologies that will change life for the better? With representations on four continents, with over 50 projects that have demonstrated over the past 15 years where the opportunities are, ZERI offers insights to government on which sectors to attract, to companies which market niches to focus on, and to communities how to secure the continued build-up of social capital. On April 6, 1994 Gunter Pauli arrived in Tokyo at the invitation of Heitor 43

44 Gurgulino de Souza, then Rector of the United Nations University who with the support of the Japanese Government decided to create a think tank which was to imagine a competitive business model in a world guided by the Kyoto Protocol. Twenty years later, the philosophy of zero emissions, where waste is converted to revenues, and unused yet widely available resources are cascading into a chain of value generation, can look back at nearly 200 implemented projects, the generation of 4 billion in investments and an impact as a concept that created to an estimated 3 million jobs. The most widely copied project is the farming of mushrooms on coffee (+1,000), the most advanced is the bio refinery with the inauguration of the first and second phase in Porto Torres, Italy in a few months. Today, the Blue Economy, the philosophy in action, maintains its global network of some 3,000 scholars and scientists as part of its Think Tank, ready to contribute ad hoc to initiatives anywhere in the world that are spearheaded by about 900 implementers who are part of the Do Tank. Gunter Pauli, as founder and animator of the initiatives, is committed to continue to find more opportunities, looking resolutely forward, focusing on the implementation of initiatives that carry the broadest possible stakeholders support. Moving from the regeneration of the rainforest in the savannas of Latin America where trees stood tall 200 years ago, to the regeneration of 100 million corals around the Caribbean island of Bonaire, the ZERI network is in a constant quest to change the rules of the game, bringing more benefits to people and nature with local resources. In the course of the next few weeks, we will publish a new manifesto outlining the strategies for the decade ahead which include fast track implementation of initiatives after the scanning and screening for opportunities and the widespread distribution of the 365 fables (of which 190 are ready) which were launched in China in April The members of ZERI take on challenges, other will consider impossible or too complex. Starting from ideas, based on science, the common vision shared by each and every member of the ZERI network is to seek sustainable solutions for society, from unreached communities to corporations inspired by nature s design principles. Innovative solutions are constantly designed by the ZERI teams drawn from many walks of life and expertise. ZERI is contributing towards the creation of a global consciousness rooted in the search for practical solutions based on sustainable natural systems. The 44

45 search for sustainability must be based on the acceptance of the interconnectedness of local and global issues. Unless we see the connections from the microscopic cellular scale to the supra global, each affecting the other in subtle yet profound ways, it is impossible to search for appropriate solutions. ZERI believes in working with many problems simultaneously. This approach not only facilitates the synergy of multiple solutions, but also requires different organizational approaches. Institutions are challenged to think out of the box, facilitating inter-departmental operations. Moreover, our solutions are constantly evolving, continually shaped by changing contexts. This approach brings real transformation, often in unexpected and very positive ways. ZERI Sustainable solutions must be based on what is locally available. ZERI believes in building on local expertise and culture within the local ecosystem with what is available. ZERI respects the need for quick results. The needs of the marginalized majority are urgent, the window of opportunity to redress a stressed business opportunity are immediate. They cannot wait while poverty alleviation programmers are constantly being redesigned, yet unable to deliver. They cannot wait for banks to foreclose, or shareholders to change management. ZERI believes in challenging the dominant mind set rooted in the scarcity principle and poverty consciousness. A narrow technological approach to addressing poverty issues in an open market is unlikely to be successful. Instead, communities (from society or from business) need to be enabled to work with nature s design principles being able to value their own richness and of their environment; communities need to experience projects that demonstrate that wealth of opportunities working with true diversity can generate livelihood for all. Business must first and foremost respect the license under which it is granted a right to operate: respond to the needs of the client. Government is not exempt from this golden rule: respond to the needs of the tax payer and the needy in the community. ZERI believes in building a new kind of leadership. Current notions of leadership are based on power and control. Going beyond this means focusing on creating a future generation, working with young minds believing in impossible dreams. Stimulating creativity and innovation, ZERI believes in affirming the creative potential of each 45

46 individual and their unique contribution towards the development of themselves and their communities. True diversity thus allows each one to appreciate her or his uniqueness while celebrating the inter-connectedness of all. Making sense of this interconnectedness, with the backing of scientific knowledge, paves the way for real development to take place within the community, eco-system and the broader living environment. It is an environment where entrepreneurship thrives, and where productivity increases while jobs are generated. It is Upsizing, instead of the dreadful Downsizing. From an environmental perspective, the elimination of waste represents the ultimate solution to pollution problems that threaten ecosystems at both local and global levels. In addition, full use of raw materials, accompanied by a shift towards renewable sources, means that utilization of the earth s resources can be brought back to sustainable levels. For industry, Zero Emissions means greater competitiveness and represents a continuation of its inevitable drive towards efficiency. First came productivity of labor and capital, and now comes the complete use of raw materials -producing more from less. Zero Emissions can therefore be viewed as a standard of efficiency, much like Total Quality Management (zero defects) and Just In Time (zero inventory). For governments, the full use of raw materials creates new industries and generates jobs even as it raises productivity. Moreover, it provides the means to feed, clothe and house their populations without destroying the ability of future generations to do the same. One of the most important issues with respect to upcycle regards the education of designers in the creative reuse of waste materials without leading the need for raw materials. ZERI in this case looks like a perfect case study of a community from around the world to design while maintaining a sustainable behavior. 1.6 Third pillar: less bad is not good Every day, people everywhere churn out mountains of plastic and non-biodegradable waste, which threaten to eclipse our living spaces. At one point in time, people all over the world simply threw their waste onto the ground where it was reabsorbed into the earth. The idea of waste as we know it today was a completely 46

47 foreign concept. Modern attitudes around waste and our general lack of awareness about the amount and types of trash we produce indicate the desperate need for an innovative new approach to this issue. Upcycling, the practice of converting waste materials into products of greater value, is a philosophy that transforms the way we conceive of waste. Upcycling is not just a solution to a problem, but a new method of thinking about and working with an asset, formerly known as garbage, which is already present in abundance in our communities. The German edition of the book was adapted to the German language and culture by Johannes F. Hartkemeyer, then Director of the Volkshochschule in Osnabruck. The concept was later incorporated by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. They state that the goal of upcycling is to prevent wasting potentially useful materials by making use of existing ones. This reduces the consumption of new raw materials when creating new products. Reducing the use of new raw materials can result in a reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution and even greenhouse gas emissions. For example, during the recycling process of plastics other than those used to create bottles, many different types of plastics are mixed, resulting in a hybrid. This hybrid is used in the manufacturing of plastic lumber applications. However, unlike the engineered polymer ABS which hold properties of several plastics well, recycled plastics suffer phase-separation that causes structural weakness in the final product. In developing countries, where new raw materials are often expensive, upcycling is commonly practiced, largely due to impoverished conditions. Upcycling has seen an increase in use due to its current marketability and the lowered cost of reused materials. In habitat, a blog devoted to sustainability and design, holds an annual upcycling design competition with entries coming from around the globe. Over the last decade, the term Upcycling has been coined and worked into the discourse of sustainability efforts. It appeared in William McDonough s book, Cradle to Cradle. It has yet to earn 47

48 itself mainstream popularity, but its necessity as a goal for how we should be progressing makes its definition important. Like so many things in sustainability, I come across many enthusiasts who are trying to promote the practice but may be passing around an incorrect meaning. We all know what the basis of Recycling is: a practice that takes an item and targets it for reuse, returning it back to the cycle of daily contribution to society rather than discarding it to trash. Going to the dictionary for confirmation renders the following: to treat or process (used or waste materials) so as to make suitable for reuse: recycling paper to save trees to alter or adapt for new use without changing the essential form or nature of: The old factory is being recycled as a theater to use again in the original form or with minimal alteration: The governor recycled some speeches from his early days to cause to pass through a cycle again: to recycle laundry through a washing machine The Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM program is a third party, multiattribute eco-label administered by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute that assesses a product s safety to humans and the environment and design for future life cycles. The program provides guidelines to help businesses implement the Cradle to Cradle framework, which focuses on using safe materials that can be disassembled and recycled as technical nutrients or composted as biological nutrients. Unlike single-attribute eco-labels, the Cradle to Cradle Certified program takes a comprehensive approach to evaluating the design of a product and the practices employed in manufacturing the product. The materials and manufacturing practices of each product are assessed in five categories: Material Health, Material Reutilization, Renewable Energy Use, Water Stewardship, and Social Responsibility. The Cradle to Cradle Certified program was founded in 2005 by 48

49 McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). In 2010, William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart formed the non-profit Institute to manage and administer the certification program as an independent third-party organization. MBDC bestowed an exclusive license upon the institute for the product certification mark and methodology. MBDC is the leading service provider for the certification program and partners with product manufacturers to complete the certification process. Learn more about consulting with MBDC to certify your product. Products or materials from any industry or country are eligible to apply for certification. Since the program began in 2005, more than 150 companies from over 15 countries have participated in the Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM program. Currently there are over 425 certified products, which include building materials, interior design products, textiles and fabrics, paper and packaging, and personal and homecare products. Participating companies include United States Postal Service, Shaw Industries, Herman Miller, Steelcase, and Method. Products or materials from any industry that are sold to consumers or other businesses are eligible for certification. Certification criteria are the same for all product types. What we understood by this third pillar is in order to implement an upcycle process must follow the rules that determine the good design of the new product. 49

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52 APPROACH AND METHODS: PRODUCT SERICE SYSTEM DESIGN AS A MAIN DRIVER FOR THE PROJECT AND RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Product service system design approach Since my Italian university background, I uses the Product Service System Design approach in the design process. In the following pages I will show the three distinct phases in which I highlighted four basic methods for each stage in the development of the project. The Inspiration phase in the thesis is referring to the research part and concern all the materials that I found thanks to both desk/online research and the on field research. In this chapter I learn from my stake holders for discover who are 52

53 them, which are their needs, and give a panoramic overview about upcycle technique and the design methods, using the case studies and personal experience that I have done during my university studies.according to the needs that I discovers in the inspiration Fig Three models representing the Design process. chapter, the second phase is about the project, that means the most important thing is generate ideas for solve the problem and the needs of my stakeholders. From August to November, I grasp the issue and potentials solution for this thesis, and for defined the concept I use different tools. When I identify the goal and the audients a start to create a core message, like a story where I tell something relevant and new about the topic that I choose, after I create a message for engage other people in the project I use a design tool to start to build the roots of the concept. The most important tool in this phase was the co-design session made with other designer for understand the key point of the project and for face the problem of the missing competitors. The last part will be the Implementation phase that I also call Design phase in which I will shows the prototyping phase and the feedback. But first of all I will give a definition of what it means to so PSSD and what is it. Different studios call it by different names (Design Council calls it Double Diamond, IDEO calls it the Five Step Method, some others call it Funnel, etc.), but the core processes and approach are the same and if we section the whole design workflow into 3 different points, this is what we find. Phase 1: the concept generation. This is the home of tools, like brainstorming and post-it boards, which help the team discuss 53

54 the project at a very early stage. The output here is a great amount of sketches, notes, and ideas, which usually flow into a concept. In this phase, creative contamination occurs, and it is probably the most open and collaborative phase. Phase 2: the concept definition. Once the main direction is settled, further activities need to happen to figure out the specifications, the styles, and the feasibility of the project. These kinds of activities are usually better conducted in a structured and specialized team with a minor level of open collaboration. Phase 3: the delivery. This phase is the most operative; the concept is developed into a real product primarily through the use of technical skills. The work is divided into tasks and assigned. 2.2 Emphatize and finalize the research The tools that I used in the inspiration phase: plan the work; observation; learning from expert; learning from people; analogous inspiration; frame design challenge; immersion in the field to create a personal experience; desk research. Inspiration phase in the thesis is referring to the research part. Indeed is about learning on the fly, opening myself up to creative possibilities, and trusting that as long as I remain grounded in desires of the communities I am engaging, my ideas will evolve into the right solutions. I get smart on my challenge, and talk to a staggering variety of people. The most important questions in this phase: How do I keep people at the center of my research? What tools can I use to understand people? How do I conduct an interview? In addition, the last is How do I get started the project? These are questions introduce the tools that I used in Research phase. For identification of upcycle contest and define the typology of the people that I need to interview. Therefore, in the chapter about research I defined the base and root of thesis. In this chapter, the most important thing will be create the base and the roots for the generation of ideas. 2.3 Ideation and definition of the idea 54

55 The second phase is about the project. For this thesis was from August to November in which I use different tools to defined the concept. The first action that I have done was define the user and the stakeholders, first I build some hypothesis and thanks the interview and observations in the field I define the boundaries for the persona. For each persona, I defined the profile, the behaviors and the needs. The most important tool in this phase was the codesign session made with other designer for understand the key point of the project. Co-design is an approach to design attempting actively involve all stakeholders in the design process to help ensure the result meets their needs and is usable, in my case the stakeholders are the designer. In the end the tools that I used in this phase: insight statements; what if question; brainstorming; concept definition; storyboard; Co-design session; maps type; pilot prototype and the normal prototype and the output will be the testing phase and the feedbacks from it. In the Ideation phase, I will hare what I have learned, make sense of a vast amount of data, and identify opportunities for design. I will generate many ideas during the co-design session, some of which I will keep, and others which I will discard. I will get tangible by building rough prototypes of my ideas, then I will share them with the people from whom I have learned and get their feedback. 2.4 Fix the design parameter In the Implementation phase is defined design part. Design because is the part in which I explain the detail of the project and the two typology of prototyping. The tools that I used: re-frame; get feedback; business model canvas; create guidelines. In the end, the outcome will be the cards tool-kit. The implementation chapter is based on the concept that I defined in the previous phase. I used prototyping tool for testing the graphic and the esthetic part of the project. I used a structural system, coming from the interaction design field and the advertisement, called Information Architecture, which refers to the organization of the contents in a website, in order to be read easier by the user. Another tool will be the pilot prototype in which I will prototype the functions of project. 55

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58 RESEARCH: ANALYSIS OF THE UPCYCLE FIELD AND DESIGN 3.1 Current body of literature about upcycle Before delving into the different contexts in which upcycle is developing I would stress that a dozen years ago to this day the upcycle has become more and more popular. Upcycle is often considered as a process in which waste materials are converted into something of higher value and/or quality in their second life. It has been increasingly recognized as a promising means to reduce material and energy use. For example, Braungart and McDonough pioneers of industrial upcycling in Cradle to Cradle, have advocated radical innovations for perpetually circular material reutilization as opposed to current recycling practice, and helped a number of companies to incorporate upcycling in their businesses (Steelcase, Herman Miller, Ford). Szaky sees object upcycling as one of the most sustainable circular solutions since upcycling typically requires little energy input and can eliminate the need for a new product from virgin materials. Such object level upcycling has been actively promoted and practiced by increasing number of entrepreneurs including TerraCycle, FREITAG, Reclaimed, The Upcycling Trading Company and Hipcycle to name a few. 58

59 The growing number of publications on upcycling in various subject areas also shows that the concept of upcycling has received more attention from numerous business practitioners, researchers, and craft professionals and hobbyists in recent years. According to the Google Books search done by the author in September, 2014, upcycling related books have been published since Most books (96%; 115 out of 120 books) in the sample were published between 2008 and 2014 with higher publication rate between 2012 and 2014 as 62.5% of all samples (75 books between 2012 and 2014; 21 books in 2012; 28 in 2013; and 26 in 2014). 53% (64/120) of the sampled books are categorized as craft and hobbies whereas the other book categories show similar percentages (art & design: 10%; house & home DIY: 10%; science & technology: 9%; business & economics: 8%; and the rest as miscellaneous). The theses search on Google Scholar simultaneously conducted by the author showed a similar recent surge of publication: 90% (37/41) of these in the sample (since 2001) were published between 2009 and Fig Cumulative frequency of the number of the sampled publications about Upcycle 59

60 Subject areas in them include architecture, art, business & management, design engineering, engineering, environmental study, textiles & clothing, among others. Despite the rising interest in upcycling manifested by industrial interest along with increased publication levels, surprisingly, no major academic review has yet been presented to my knowledge. This might be partially attributed to the fact that the term, upcycling, is a neologism. The first recorded use of the term has been traced back to an interview with Reiner Pilz. For this reason, the overall volume of literature dealing with upcycling is still low. Therefore, in order to further establish this field, this paper analyses and summarizes the current body of literature on upcycling, focusing on different definitions, trends in practices, benefits, drawbacks and barriers in a number of subject areas. 3.2 Four types of upcycle context What are the protagonists of the scene of the upcycle? Which situation is emerging in the world today? These are the main questions that I asked myself before start to write this chapter. The situation of upcycle today provides different results according to different fields. In particular, I would like to analyze four main categories that I create to highlight how upcycle is developing in the world. The first are the big companies and brands that have become aware of how mass production undertaken by them has a negative impact on the future and then seek upcycle solutions for future products even banning of the ideas competition as it did recently H&M. The most important concept behind this cluster is the business model, how to create profit reusing waste material spending less energies. The second category concern the major companies born with the vision and the mission of making upcycle. Their business is based on the waste recovery. The third does not provide an analysis of companies but a 60

61 phenomenon, a trend that began to enter homes and move the people in an individual way and this phenomenon had historical roots. Since prehistoric times, and especially in the most difficult situations such as the crisis, we saw men and women driven by practical needs seek innovative solutions with what they had. Consider life during the Great Depression. Industrious housewives re-used and repurposed as much as they could. Old dresses were fashioned into aprons. Left over food was turned into tomorrow s lunch or composted into a natural garden fertilizer. Finally, the last category came from my personal experience. The university as a place of sustainable design for communities and specific contexts can be done in an innovative way. I start to talk about the International company and make an overview about what happen in the world. The fashion industry often gets slammed in sustainability circles. Dyeing and finishing fabric involves using copious amounts of chemicals, steam and Fig Loopworks label of second skin of pc. 61

62 water, leaving behind an enormous environmental footprint. Then there are the labor issues, such as poor and unsafe working conditions in places where laborers are paid a pittance for long days of toil. However, the tide may be changing, at least on a few important levels. If Etsy could be use like an indicator, people really dig repurposing things. More than 260,000 upcycled products, items such as earrings made from watch parts or belts concocted from soda can tabs, are for sale on the handmade e-commerce platform. Companies are upcycling as well. Looptworks, an Oregon startup that takes issue with the apparel industry s waste, captures abandoned materials from textile cutting room floors and turns them into fashion-forward T-shirts, laptop sleeves and more. Its mission is to reduce the million tons of fabric sent to landfills each Fig H&M campaign for old clothes. year and slash the more than 400 gallons of fresh water needed to produce one cotton T-shirt. That has not to put down regular old recycling. Similar to what the North Face has done with its Clothes the Loop program, Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz is rolling out a new plan that offers discounts on new H&M merchandise to people who bring their old clothes of any brand or condition to its stores. 62

63 The company resells clothing that is still wearable, offsetting some of what it loses in discounts. Textiles that no longer can be worn are converted into compost or new products, such as cleaning cloths or automotive insulation. The program began in February 2014 and rolled out to all H&M stores by the end of the year. Puma s classic T7 Track Jacket Puma has created a high performing polyester zipper to replace the metal one in its classic T7 track jacket, which is made of recycled polyester. Now when consumers are done with the jacket and bring it back to a Puma store, the whole thing can be recycled together. Puma s industrial composting initiative also is impressive. It s now making a basket shoe that uses cotton thread, which is tough to find from suppliers, instead of polyester thread. Consumers can bring worn-out shoes back to a Puma store. The company will ship them to a facility to be shredded and decomposed by microorganisms. The resulting methane is used to generate energy. Bring Me Back was recently launched by popular sportswear brand PUMA and aims at upcycling unwanted items to create new products. PUMA is dedicated to making a smaller impact on earth. The Bring Me Back program is one way of doing that. We re taking what would normally be trash, and breathing new life into your old sneakers, used t-shirts, and last season s tote. By taking old clothes and re-using, re-cycling, or re-purposing them, we mitigate the amount of virgin material that would otherwise be used to make new products. This partnership with I-Collect creates a closed-loop system that diverts product from the landfill, and becomes a new product. The program also includes a fun social element where you take a photo of your donated or upcycled item, write a short obituary about it and post it on Puma s Bring Me Back site. In the world there are also big realities that have made their mission and therefore their business face the upcycle. In the following pages, I will speak of the companies who make and support the trend of upcycle. Here are five companies with upcycling ideas that are here to stay. Tom Szaky by 20 year old in 2001, turning worm poop into fertilizer 63

64 was TerraCycle s first big idea. Then they transformed discarded drink containers into consumer bling, which made them a worldrecognized leader in this hot, new trend of upcycling. Upcycling is the conversion of waste destined for landfills into new products of better quality or a higher environmental value. TerraCycle upcycles unwanted trash into messenger bags, notebooks, and the list goes on. Buy low, sell high is the underlying business model for upcycling companies such as TerraCycle. They buy raw source materials (waste) at low cost and charge premium prices for their fashionable, environmentally friendly upcycled products. But that s not all. The upcycling companies business partners also benefit because their scrap waste is being reused. Instead of having to pay someone to haul their waste away, someone is actually paying for it and taking it off their hands. The good news for the environment is that as more trash is upcycled, less trash is ending up in landfills. It also lowers the consumption of raw materials, air pollution from waste incineration, and water pollution from leaking into landfills. The upcycling trend is doing something more it is raising people s awareness about the growing trash problem and motivating them to change their behavior. TerraCycle is now one of the fastest-growing green companies in the world. The company creates waste collection programs for waste that is impossible or difficult to recycle. TerraCycle converts the waste into new products, such as park benches or backpacks. Since the inauspicious start, TerraCycle has become one of the fastest growing green companies in the world. More than just a recycling company, TerraCycle strives to be a driving force behind increasing environmental awareness and action. Their goal is to be a trusted resource for families, schools, communities, and even corporations to find tips, stats, facts, tactics, and news to help them live a greener, cleaner lifestyle. Together, they are eliminating the idea of waste. Today, TerraCycle is a highly awarded, international upcycling and recycling company that collects difficult to recycle packaging and products and repurposes the material into affordable, innovative products. TerraCycle is widely considered the world s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable, post-consumer waste. TerraCycle works with more than 100 major brands in the U.S. and 22 countries overseas to collect used packaging and products 64

65 Fig Terracycle process and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills. It repurposes that waste into new, innovative materials and products that are available online and through major retailers. Another company is Recyclebank, an online portal that rewards users with local deals and discounts for their green deeds, and all it takes is answering a few quiz questions, recycling at home or sharing the site with friends to win. All you got to do is register to get started. Recyclebank is a company based in New York City that aims to encourage recycling and environmentally friendly habits. It brings together people, businesses, and communities to achieve real world impact by participating in household recycling and teaching how to live more sustainable lifestyles. Over 4 million people have signed up through Recyclebank s rewards program, which offers magazine subscriptions and discounts among other goods. Recyclebank s online shop, OneTwine.com, combines the 65

66 company s sustainability expertise and rewards program to help people make more green choices when purchasing products. The aim of Recyclebank is educating and rewarding their customers for recycling. Terracycle does this by setting up collection centers to Fig Recyclebank website make it easier for communities and schools to recycle. TerraCycle and Recyclebank are not the only companies coming up with 66

67 innovative and profitable ideas for making stylish, environmentally friendly products out of trash. Other three big company that are take care of upcycle are Playback clothing, Hipcycle and Preserve. Playback clothing creates tees, hoodies, and sweatshirts by transforming trash plastic bottles and clothing scraps into ecoclothing. The company also retains the original color of recycled material. The lifecycle analysis was done by two students from Yale University s Graduate Program in Environmental Studies, and found that a Playback sweatshirt outperforms conventional sweatshirts in 23 of 25 environmental categories. When compared to a conventional cotton/polyester sweatshirt, the Playback sweatshirt made of 70 percent recycled cotton and 30 percent recycled polyester resulted in: 80 percent less waste 79 percent fewer fossil fuels used 68 percent less global warming potential 49 percent less air pollution 33 percent less land used 25 percent fewer carcinogens Playback makes its clothes by collecting plastic bottles, glass bottles and post-industrial cotton scraps. The items are sorted by color, broken down into fibers and paired with recycled cotton or polyester. The fibers are re-spun into yarn and knitted into clothes. The hoodies and sweatshirts are made with 70 percent recycled Fig Hipcycle products sells on website cotton and 30 percent recycled polyester. The recycled PET shirts contain 65 percent recycled polyester from PET (equivalent to 8.5 bottles) and 35 percent recycled cotton. And the recycled cotton 67

68 T-shirts are a 50/50 blend of recycled cotton and recycled polyester. Hipcycle is an online retailer, upcycles goods to create home decor, jewelry and fashion that are durable, affordable and fashionable. Hipcycle is specializing in upcycled goods that are durable, stylish and priced fairly compared to similar mainstream items. The mission is to offer upcycled alternatives to traditional home decor, jewelry and fashion as a way to reduce global waste. The aim is educate consumers on the benefits of upcycling, so when given the choice, they purchase an upcycled product over selecting a new one. The most important thing learned from these giants of upcycle that you can develop a sustainable business, based on upcycle, and focused to mass production; it is possible, creating a profit system with dual subject. In one hand the upcycle company in the other company or people that are producing waste. I want to conclude this chapter with a personal case study that explain upcycle could be not only sustainable, but also a profitable business choice. MIDA More Than Gold is a start-up project, born during university, based on the up-cycle process of waste raw material resulting from industrial processes. The first pilot project involves and redesigns wood wastes from Italian furniture industries, such as Riva1920, that was the first partnership of MIDA. In September 2014 won Preseed contest at PoliHub Start-up Incubator. It joined several events and fairs and its products are now sold in 3 shops in Italy. The name because wood, and its intrinsic characteristics (color, grain, scent), makes each piece a unique example. MIDA changes waste-materials perception into an endless and self-regenerative resource. The vision is to give people a precious and unique piece of nature, obtained with a sustainable process. Therefor our mission are: 1. Sharing and spreading wood culture and sustainable consciousness: we want to share our passion for natural materials bringing a wide range of users near the culture of wood, thorough the realization of small-scale products which satisfy an aesthetical requirement and give the opportunity to be aware of the beautifulness of these rare, 68

69 precious and unknown Woods. Thanks to the quality and beauty of our products create a graphic an user experience that rise up the consciousness about a sustainable life style of the people, because an important part will be the education. 2. Valorizing wood waste as raw material: MIDA supports sustainability and uses wood waste from industrial productions: wood never loses its beauty and preciousness, neither if it is a discard. 3. Innovative design: MIDA products are characterized by the heat of wood and finely cared design; up to now. Some of the woods we selected have never been used before for similar products, such as cedar, the millenary kaori from new zeland, wood from the venice briccole used in the laguna as boat-holders, and many other unique woods will be used in the future. MIDA exports an alternative material on a classic product, imitating its forms and preciousness. 4. Creating value products: our products can be compared to real jewels, because of both the raw material and the application of a golden insert which Ensures and distinguishes the authenticity of our products from all the others. The values of MIDA are: Zero-waste production, recovering industrial waste, giving a third life cycle to materials Made in Italy quality guarantee (world wide recognition) with local production (km zero) Valorizing Italian design Working esteemed raw materials, such as wood Efficient use of the raw materials that nature provide, and ensure customer transparency about the used material 69

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72 (certified wood). Preserve and pass on the craft traditions of those who came before us and create job opportunities for the wood industry that is currently in crisis from a readily available and workable raw material. The goals of MIDA are establish as a dynamic company in the field of design, based on the ability to follow and create trends and to propose to the user high quality products with great sensibility towards ecological issues. The ecological issue is the pillar of this start-up because the business plan is based on reuse waste materials and create a new product using a makers km0. The reason why I explain this personal example is because the business behind MIDA, showed in the picture here below, is a type of business that allowed the upcycle trend became a mass production process, involving various local actors and the important figure of the designer as a designer and coordinator of the upcycle process. In fact, as you can see in the picture MIDA take the waste material from the factory, create a project for the waste material and send the project and the materials to the makers to realize the product in a local context. In some case, as I said before the two actors Makers and Factory could be the same person in companies such Fig The covers of the MIDA catalogs 72

73 Fig Hipcycle products sells on website 73

74 Fig Me and my partner in the factory choosing wood waste and below the ring collection. 74

75 Fig MIDA, Man collections of upcycle bowties Fig MIDA, Woman collections of upcycle rings 75

76 as Terracycle. Investing on upcycle by companies could become a phenomenon of gain. Each factory produces waste and this waste becomes a cost of disposal, the MIDA system creates an external connection that we call bridge from the company to the makers that allows to transform the disposal costs in profit. In addition, if the companies start to investing in the upcycle phenomena in a local way, they would create jobs did not exist before, becoming a positive force for the market. Another important reason is the quality perception. In most of the pictures that everyone can find in internet or in my thesis, we can see that the upcycle products generally are not so beautiful; sometimes the esthetic part is secondary because the most important think is the concept of the upcycle product, but in MIDA also the esthetic is a fundamental aspect. All the products that we had designed are thinking for be beautiful accessorize that are following the actual trend. 3.3 The behaviors today: survey and interview Many people are familiar with the basic concept of recycling from the general pick up of their bottles and cans and newspapers, the concept of upcycling is new to most people. Recycling is the practice that takes an item and targets it for reuse, in its same form but improved, returning it back to the cycle of contribution to society rather than discarding it to trash. Upcycling is a growing trend, which is well known and used in Australia and Europe. It is becoming more and more recognized in America. I see it as an upand-coming trend, with people understanding the absolute need to limit waste. Indeed the third category is about the people that every day decide to start a challenge with the waste, for different reason. As already mentioned in the first part of the chapter in recent years has developed this new phenomenon, the upcycle, the people do it individually at homes. For understand this phenomena I create a survey that I spread to 150 people and made some interview. I decide to ask mostly to the young designer and design students about the upcycle topic. I collect 120 answers. Basically the questions of the survey are divided in four parts, the first is for identify the target, 76

77 the second is about the knowledge of waste and recycle, the third try to collect information about upcycle and in the end there are two questions about the designing process, and the tools for create innovative ideas. Why people do upcycle? Mostly because it is fun, and an excellent way to tap into your creative and artistic side. For others, it is the satisfaction of reusing something and minimizing wastage. From a design perspective, you can incorporate elements into your home that have character and substance (qualities that upcycled objects inherently possess). For Carlo it s a great exercise in problem solving and I get great satisfaction in helping old materials become useful again. The increased awareness of environmental responsibility and a slow economy has led to a major increase in upcycling. The college student short on cash may upcycle their out of fashion jeans by adding a few seams and 77

78 What is your age range? Do you know about recycling? Titolo del grafico yes no 1 2 Do you know about upcycling? (converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental Titolo del value) grafico yes no 78

79 rips instead of buying a new pair all together. Homeowners are looking for ways to renovate with salvaged, and in some cases, free materials. The green mom on a budget may upcycle her old clothes into clothes for her children. This innovative spirit and environmental consciousness has led to upcycling in nearly all areas of life. From green companies to your Mother s kitchen, people are looking to save money and the planet. Upcycling does both. Do you swap or upcycle used items? I think as the economy tanked, more people turned to buying things secondhand. The creativity of the people has come forward, creating many different objects recovering the waste material produced by normal people that used a spare time to do it. Close to this home handmade dynamic have developed small boutiques and online platforms that support the new creative people who are not necessarily designers or artists, but also ordinary people who accept the challenge of the upcycle. From this phenomenon, also born many blogs where people exchange advice and information about the nature of the material and the type of processing. In China in 2013 he opened the first store that sells products upcycle. The Squirrelz, is a green multi-brand store and China s first upcycle shop, hopes to spark a trend towards more sustainable living. Located at the heart of Shanghai s Eco Village, a shopping and events hub for all things green, the shop was founded by designers Bunny Yan and Nicolas Bouthors in June Although the practice of recycling and reuse still remains an integral part of China s resourceful and low-income populations. Booming middle and upper class consumer power in Chinese cities such as Shanghai has led to the eschewal of upcycling in favor of a wasteful consumer culture a worrying trend that leaves landfills swelling with discarded products and puts a serious toll on the environment. There s so much waste, overproduction and defective products out there, especially in China, and so many of those products can be made with those materials most of which are new, says Yan on why she and Bouthors chose to open China s first upcycle design shop. If we can use our skills to create and help showcase these interesting designs while contributing to a better environment then that will be the ultimate win-win situation. In addition to carrying the upcycled wares of other Shanghai-based designers and social enterprises, Squirrelz further reduces landfill- 79

80 bound waste by reaching out to Chinese companies with defective and overstocked items and working with them and other designers to develop upcycled products. The retail shop also hosts arts and craft classes to teach the community how to upcycle old products. In a country where mass-production is king, the Squirrelz stands out as a vanguard of eco-friendly products, each with its own unique backstory. 3.4 University, experience in the field The last but not the least category is University upcycle field. Today around all over the world the phenomena of upcycle is enter also inside the university program. In Europe, most of the design university create a specific course and organized contests where the students can learn more about this topic and use the creativity to develop some innovative solutions. This year in April I participated an international upcycle contest made by UK and Chinese universities. Therefore, I want to start this chapter with a personal experience here in China and call it, from waste to wonder. Building on the first three rounds of International Fig People that are participated in the upcycle contest in Wuxi 80

81 Higher Education Collaboration on Upcycling of Industry Leftovers which took place respectively in Guangzhou in 2012, Changsha in 2013and Shanghai in 2014, the British Council with Chinese partners ran to the 4th round in Wuxi in April These workshops have been successful and impactful, bringing concrete and tangible benefits to both institutions and individuals in both UK and China. Through participating and working together in the workshops in previous three years, a number of concrete links and collaboration projects between universities in UK and China as well as between university and industries were successfully generated and developed. The 2015 International Workshop Sino- UK Higher Education Collaboration on Upcycling of Industry Leftovers started on April 10th at Jiangnan University. Presided over by Deputy Dean Gong Miaoseng from Jiangnan University s School of Design, opened a ceremony with a couples of important figures. The guests included: Xu Zhongyuan, Vice Director of Science and Technology Bureau of Wuxi City, Representative Zhou Xiang from British Consulate s Culture and Education Department, Qiu Dengke, General Secretary of Guangzhou City Low-carbon Association, Wei Rui, Brand Director of Guangzhou City Wanluda Group, Tian Bei, Vice President of Jiangnan University, Zhong Fang, Director of Jiangnan University s International Office, and Xing Xiangyang and Qiu Jianping, respectively served as Dean and Party Secretary from Jiangnan University s School of Design. On behalf of Jiangnan University, Vice President Tian Bei made a speech, recognizing the forward-looking approaches and achievements in international cooperation made by Jiangnan University s School of Design, giving a briefing of Jiangnan University s low carbon energy-saving campus, and speaking highly of the international and domestic significance of the event. He hopes that the School of Design should deepen development and reform and promote Industry College research, so we play an important role in making a low carbon emission Jiangnan University campus and by extension such a Wuxi city. Director Xu, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Qiu and Mrs. Wei Rui successively gave a speech focusing on the supportive role of the event in low carbon industry. The event is supported by an international joint program funded in 2012 by the above institutes. In 2015, the program received the approval of the supervision under China s Ministry of Education and is brought into the Sino-Britain cultural exchange mechanism. The ten day 81

82 British Council event saw selected students and tutors from six UK universities, three East Asian universities and nine Chinese universities work collaboratively in teams of three to design objects with a positive social function using industry leftovers in Wuxi, China. Consequently, the event had attracted faculty members and students from different institutions including Lincoln University, University of Central Lancashire, University of Plymouth, Nottingham Trent University and Robert Gordon University, and Chinese institutions including Jiangnan University, Tsinghua University, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Hunan University, Tongji University, Nanjing University of the Arts, and Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. This event, with a theme of lakeshore a featured landscape of Wuxi area, is aimed to improve the lakeside environment, enhance public knowledge of environmental protection, creating characteristic cultural sights and building a distinct culture on environmental protection. During the 10-day event, the participants were required to get through the activities as follows: Creatively designing with industrial leftovers; On-spot completing their design works; Displaying the works; Purposes of the upcycle contest: Explore the best ways to upcycle industrial leftovers and to promote the publicity and application of low-carbon ideas and Eco Design, following the principle of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycling. To design works with potential market value from industrial leftovers and to turn industrial leftovers into products with cultural and economic values Through this project, partner enterprises will be able to find paths to innovative designs, establish the best platform of environment protection and energy conservation to recycle 82

83 industrial leftovers, explore new patterns of production and circulation, and lay a solid foundation for establishing a low carbon brand of its own. Participating students will form teams in two ways: with students from the same university and with students from abroad as international teams to deign their arts items. They will work out their designed arts items in the workshop with industrial leftovers provided. The final arts items made by each team will be exhibited. Excellent arts items can be commercially produced by relevant businesses. Organizers will facilitate the media coverage of the whole competition, to better inform more Chinese enterprises that industrial design can be an innovative solution in the era of low carbon economy. Participating students from the universities from China, UK and East Asia will start their design coordination after they fully understand the material provided by the Chinese enterprises. They will share their knowledge and innovation on low-carbon and sustainable design. Students will also develop their language skills, team spirit and intercultural skills. This competition will also help establish connections between universities in China and aboard and enhance academic exchange and cooperation. The competition began with the jury in a way that made us choose the materials that we had to design. The materials we have received to design: a plastic profile that was the primary material, sheets of transparent plastic and plastic strips yellow that were used to close the packs. The process that we used it can be divided into several steps: an initial phase where we visited our context and studied our persona, and how these users interact with the context. Second, after we discover the problems and the opportunities that could be fix we tested the materials with different tools to understand how the material reacted and discover the creative opportunities. Third, after we tested the material we made a brainstorming to search for hypothetical solutions. The design did not follow a regular flow, but has been a path where we gathered to try to try, reaching separate prototyping through tests and verify if the 83

84 project was able to solve the problems we had identified. In this design process, the most important aspect was always to have in mind a sustainable approach. Sustainable approach in a project upcycle means: used as much as possible the origin waste materials avoid the addition of glues and other elements that mix different materials designing projects that are assembled and disassembled Fig Main upcycle materials Fig Me and my team that are testing and working on upcycle project in Wuxi 84

85 machining and the tools that are using should be simple and without using large amounts of energy the new product the cycle life instead of becoming useless throwaways that will quickly be discarded, these items can be given another life The outcomes of our design was a system of products that held different functions relating to the needs that we discovered during the research phase. The project is based on a triangular shape that defines a seating system. The seat can become a bench, an amplifier Fig Me and my team with the upcycle project 85

86 or a camping light. What I learned from this experience is how universities are big source of ideas and creativity; in fact actually, the projects are applicable in the real world. The realization of these projects has seen the use of Km0 waste materials and the ability to create useful design and educational insights for the Wuxi people. 3.5 Gamification and generation of knowledge Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts, such as a project context. Gamification commonly employs game design elements which are used in so called non-game contexts in attempts to improve user engagement, organizational productivity, flow, learning, employee recruitment and evaluation, ease of use and usefulness of systems, physical exercise traffic violations, and voter apathy, among others. Many improvements that the gamification creates are the goals of my project, which aims to use an external design dynamic to set up a project path in order to create innovative ideas. A review of research on gamification shows that a majority of studies on gamification find positive effects from gamification. However, individual and contextual differences exist. Gamification uses an empathy-based approach (such as Design thinking) for introducing, transforming and operating a service system that allows players to enter a gameful experience to support value creation for the players and other stakeholders. Gamification designers address the user as player to indicate that the motivations and interests of the player are in the center of the gamification design. Gamification in a narrow sense is used in a non-game context, is built into the service system, and is aiming at an infinite experience. It does not aim at creating a game but offering a gameful experience. One of the goals of gamification is aiming to increase the discussion among the members of the group through the use of the deck of cards, making them interact with each other pushing them to create custom paths. In a broader sense gamification also includes game context such as in serious games and finite and infinite games. Gamification techniques strive to leverage people s natural desires for socializing, learning, 86

87 mastery, competition, achievement, status, self-expression, altruism, or closure. Early gamification strategies use rewards for players who accomplish desired tasks or competition to engage players. Types of rewards include points, achievement badges or levels, the filling of a progress bar, or providing the user with virtual currency. Making the rewards for accomplishing tasks visible to other players or providing leader boards are ways of encouraging players to compete. Due to potentially problematic consequences of competition, which can result in unethical behavior, low cooperation and collaboration, or disadvantaging certain player demographics such as women best-practice gamification designs try to refrain from using this element. Another approach to gamification is to make existing tasks feel more like games. Some techniques used in this approach include adding meaningful choice, onboarding with a tutorial, increasing challenge, and adding narrative. Gamification can be used for ideation, the structured brainstorming to produce new ideas. A study at MIT Sloan found that ideation games helped participants generate more and better ideas, and compared it to gauging the influence of academic papers by the numbers of citations received in subsequent research. The use of card-based methods provides tools for brainstorming exercises during workshops that facilitate creative dialogue (Hornecker 2010). They also assist in creating an environment for better understanding the systems that are being designed and the user interactions and experiences that are being created. Physical objects such as cards also make tensions and disagreements between workshop participants more tangible and less personal. They can also speed up the design process to help participants focus, and create common ground in application design features whilst also allowing room for divergent interpretation (Hornecker 2010). Playfulness is deeply rooted in human culture (Huizinga 1955) and any activity can potentially be designed with a playful approach. This is to not only provide an enjoyable experience for participants, but to also facilitate the creation of practical design outcomes (Arrasvouri et al 2011, Lucero and Arrasvuori 2010). Playful design has been a feature of using game design thinking in business contexts, and is becoming a key tenet of gamification (Deterding et al 2011). The definition of gamification used in this project is an adaptation of the Huotari et al definition of gamification (2012, 17) as: a process for enhancing the design of a product, service 87

88 or process with affordances for gameful experiences that supports overall value creation for stakeholders. Using cards as design tools provide tangible representations of abstract conceptual concepts, and are simple to use and easy to manipulate (Wolfiel and Merritt 2013). This helps to make the design process more visible and less abstract (Hornecker 2010; Lucero and Arrasvuori 2010) and provides a process to reason and justify design decisions as well as facilitate a creative ideation process (Mueller et al. 2014). This is particularly important for gamification design given that there few rigorous or validated frameworks and tools available to researchers and practitioners. Introducing a level of playfulness is also an important element in the overall design process in enterprise gamification projects in order to stimulate new ways of thinking about existing problems. In case of use a cards method to design a project is interesting to understand how generate knowledge. In fact, using the deck of cards and related tools makes interaction between two types of tacit and explicit knowledge outlined by two great Japanese masters Nonaka and Takeuchi. But let s start from Polany with the definition of what it means to tacit knowledge. The term tacit knowing or tacit knowledge was first introduced into philosophy by Michael Polanyi in 1958 in his magnum opus Personal Knowledge. He famously summarizes the idea in his later work The Tacit Dimension with the assertion that we can know more than we can tell.. He states not only that there is knowledge that cannot be adequately articulated by verbal means, but also that all knowledge is rooted in tacit knowledge in the strong sense of that term. Tacit knowledge has been described as know-how as opposed to know-that (facts). This distinction is usually taken to date back to a paper by Gilbert Ryle, given to the Aristotelian society in London in In this paper Ryle argues against the (intellectualist) position that all knowledge is knowledge of propositions ( know-that ), and the view that some knowledge can only be defined as know-how has therefore, in some contexts, come to be called anti-intellectualist. There are further distinctions: know-why (science), or know-who (networking). Tacit knowledge involves learning and skill but not in a way that can be written down. On this account knowing-how or embodied knowledge is characteristic of the expert, who acts, makes judgments, and so forth without explicitly reflecting on the principles or rules involved. The expert works without having a 88

89 theory of his or her work; he or she just performs skillfully without deliberation or focused attention Embodied knowledge represents a learned capability of a human body s nervous and endocrine systems (Sensky 2002). Tacit knowledge vs. explicit knowledge: Although it is possible to distinguish conceptually between explicit and tacit knowledge, they are not separate and discrete in practice. The interaction between these two modes of knowing is vital for the creation of new knowledge. A related point in the area of tacit knowledge is that in many cases, despite the existence of good library indexing systems and search engines, the way specific knowledge may be described is not obvious unless one already has the knowledge. Tacit knowledge can be distinguished from explicit knowledge in three major areas: Codifiability and mechanism of transferring knowledge: while explicit knowledge can be codified (an example of that is can you write it down or put it into words or draw a picture ), and easily transferred without the knowing subject, tacit knowledge is intuitive and unarticulated knowledge that cannot be communicated, understood or used without the knowing subject. Unlike the transfer of explicit knowledge, the transfer of tacit knowledge requires close interaction and the buildup of shared understanding and trust among them. Main methods for the acquisition and accumulation: Explicit knowledge can be generated through logical deduction and acquired through practical experience in the relevant context. In contrast, tacit knowledge can only be acquired through practical experience in the relevant context. Potential of aggregation and modes of appropriation: Explicit knowledge can be aggregated at a single location, stored in objective forms and appropriated without the participation of the knowing subject. Tacit knowledge in contrast, is personal contextual. It is distributive, and cannot easily be aggregated. The realization of its full potential requires the close involvement and cooperation of the knowing subject. The process of transforming tacit knowledge into explicit or specifiable knowledge is known as codification, articulation, 89

90 or specification. The tacit aspects of knowledge are those that cannot be codified, but can only be transmitted via training or gained through personal experience. There is a view against the distinction, where it is believed that all propositional knowledge (knowledge that) is ultimately reducible to practical knowledge (knowledge how). Arguably the most important contributor to this subject has been Ikujiro Nonaka. He worked extensively with the concepts of explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge, and drew attention to the way Western firms tend to focus too much on the former (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1996). This sentiment has since been echoed throughout organisational learning and knowledge management (KM) literature (e.g. Cook & Brown 1999, Kreiner 1999, Tsoukas & Valdimirou 2001, etc.). Nonaka and Takeuchi introduced the SECI model (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1996) which has become the cornerstone of knowledge creation and transfer theory. They proposed four ways that knowledge types can be combined and converted, showing how knowledge is shared and created in the organization. The model is based on the two types of knowledge outlined above. Socialization: Tacit to tacit. Knowledge is passed on through practice, guidance, imitation, and observation. Externalization: Tacit to explicit. This is deemed as a particularly difficult and often particularly important conversion mechanism. Tacit knowledge is codified into documents, manuals, etc. so that it can spread more easily through the organization. Since tacit knowledge can be virtually impossible to codify, the extent of this knowledge conversion mechanism is debatable. The use of metaphor is cited as an important externalization mechanism. Combination: Explicit to explicit. This is the simplest form. Codified knowledge sources (e.g. documents) are combined to create new knowledge. Internalization: Explicit to tacit. As explicit sources are used and learned, the knowledge is internalized, modifying the user s existing tacit knowledge. 3.6 Design method: cards In the world of design methods, there are the cards. They often consist of whiteboards, flip charts and post-its. Cards have the possibility to transform analogue work and meetings in both 90

91 structured and creative ways. In a few years we will have a more diverse view on cards, something that would mean that the decks would be judged by its content. Most decks got nothing more in common than the format. When you buy a book, people would ask: What book did you buy? Who authored it? What is it about? Is it good? Would I like it? You should ask those questions with card decks too. Physical cards have been popular design tools, perhaps because they are simple, tangible and easy to manipulate. Aside from the well known Card Sorting method, cards have been used widely by designers to make the design process visible and less abstract and serve as communication tools between members of the design team and users. There are many examples of unique method card systems, many have similar features and formal qualities, yet it is not easy to get an overview of the available card systems in order to decide which to use, and when. There are many examples of cards being used to assist or provide structure to the design. Here in the following pages I explain some examples defining the five dimensions and graduations, with in the dimensions are in revealing key differences across the examples including: Intended Purpose & Scope Duration of use and placement in design process System or Methodology of use Customization Formal Qualities These attributes describe claims from the literature of the authors, the formal characteristics, and the tools in use. While these may seem closely related, it is an initial step in developing a framework for discussing the design attributes in card-based tools. Graduations within these dimensions were chosen to differentiate the examples future work is needed, however to validate and develop these further. Intended purpose & Scope. Based on research literature or from booklets and inserts included in the card packages, the respective authors have made claims as to where their tools fit within the design process (ideation, inspiration, engaging non-designers, 91

92 etc.). In this category we can ask: where in the design process are the cards used and how should they be used? Do they have a specific purpose and do they focus on a particular context? Here are identified three graduations of intended purpose & scope, ranging from very general to context specific. General/Repository card systems provide inspiration and challenge designers to take another point of view. An example here are the Oblique Cards, which can be engaged with at any time in any context to increase lateral thinking and stimulate design problem solving in general. These types of cards aim for open-ended inspiration with little or no guidance on their use. These cards mainly function as repositories for design methods, capturing well known methods from important literature and offload the task of remembering the many design methods. We also found various examples of cards, which focus on participatory design. They seek to develop sensitivity and empathy for the context, and engage de-signers and users in the process. Some cards are designed for a better communication between users and designers, examples here are the Questionable Concept Cards, which encourage criticism and debate or the Inspiration Cards that require collaborative work between designers and domain experts using the cards. There are also context specific/ agenda driven examples. This includes those cards focused on a particular context or design agenda as the Sound Design Deck, which facilitates sound design in games or the Design Play Cards, which focus on de-signing for sustainability. Duration of use/ when in process. It is important to acknowledge the time investment that the various systems require and to know when in the process they are used. This dimension includes key differences in the length of time ranging from one time use to sustained use of the system throughout the design process. Another aspect is the placement in the design process whether the cards should be used in the very beginning, after initial field studies 92

93 or prior to mockup sessions and prototyping. Four groups were identified, which range from anywhere/anytime to at a specific point in time. The Oblique Cards are an example of cards that can be used anywhere/anytime in the process. They can be useful in the very first phase of idea generation, but also when facing problems during the design, being stuck or looking for alternatives. Cards presenting a collection of methods as the IDEO Method Cards, are often positioned to be used as needed. As they provide a lot of different methods, some of those will fit in an early design stage, whereas others are for evaluation and testing. Other cards should be used at the beginning of the process as they provide input for further concept development; for example, PictureCARDs are used after an initial field study and provide the basis for the card creation. The last aspect of time is that cards are used at a specific point, for example in a workshop. The Sound Design Deck is used in this way, when applying the introduced methodology. But even though most of the work with the cards is done in a short session (~2h), one should still refer back to the cards later in the design process. System or Methodology of use. Some of the cards can be used very freely, whereas others provide a methodology how to use the cards. Some of the approaches are playful and game like; some have rules or discreet steps that should be followed. This can be helpful to get started using the cards but might at the same time be restrictive. We identified three groups in this category: no methodology, suggestion for use and specific instructions. Cards with no system are used ad-hoc with no suggested structured process provided by the authors. Cards of this type include IDEO, SUTD, and Oblique. Most of the cards offer at least a basic suggestion for use. 93

94 The DSKD Cards come with a small brochure, which has some examples how the cards can be used. The authors of the Picture CARDs describe how they were using the cards, but there are no hard and fast, specific rules. The last category describes cards in which specific instructions are given. The authors of the Sound Design Cards introduced a specific method of how to use the cards, including a workspace with four regions in which cards can be moved, thus facilitating idea generation and keeping track of the design work at the same time. Inspiration Cards also provide specific instructions, noting where the cards should be arranged on a poster to formulate a design idea. Customization. Although we acknowledge that any technology tool will be adapted and appropriated into the user s life, in this dimension, I describe the degree to which the tool provides for customization as part of its use. The first group in this category is no customization. When we examine the SUTD, Oblique, etc cards, they are intended to be static and unchanged. Cards offering trivial customization, do not allow the user to add or modify content, but only to structure or group the cards. This is the case with the IDEO iphone app that in most respects replicates the paper cards allowing the user to make groups and add cards to the groups. The Sound Design Deck provides for optional customization, whereas users can create their own cards and add them to a wiki. This is intended and welcome by the authors, as they aim to create a pattern language for sound design. The last group of cards requires customization in order to be utilized. Examples here are the Inspiration Cards, the Ideation Deck or Questionable Concept Cards. The cards have to be created beforehand and are therefore applicable in the specific project, which helps the designer to get a better understanding of the project domain. 94

95 Formal qualities. While the focus of this paper is on cards, there are differences in the physical properties (2-sides, paper, size, shape), connections to virtual systems (stand alone or connected to objects in the room or in the virtual world), and appearances (images, diagrams, words, color schemes, etc.) Other formal qualities include issues such as the fact that some card systems have only one copy of a card vs. multiple copies, etc. We do not provide for all possible configurations, however, we provide graduations according to the use of media. The simplest type of cards have only text or only images, while most of the cards combine text and image or illustration, like the Inspiration Cards or the PLEX Cards. The authors of PLEX Cards present their evaluation of the cards, and describe feedback regarding the images. This feedback highlights the importance of choosing suitable images for cards they claim that the image should be abstract enough to allow an open interpretation, but at the same time detailed enough so that the user can relate to and interpret it. There are various card systems where the content is divided into different categories, as with the IDEO Method cards or the SUTD Cards, which provides thematic structure in the cards and suggests how the cards relate to each other. Finally, there are some cards, which have a virtual component, as in the Sound Design Deck, which connects the physical cards to the online wiki providing additional information and example videos. In the two diagrams, I used initials instead of full names, for this in the following lines I quoted all the full names; ensure that the source is available. (PC) Picture Card, (LC) Layered Card, (IC) Inspiration Card, (DH) Design Heuristics, (ID) Ideation Deck, (PX) Plex Card, (SDO) Sound Design Deck, (QCC) Questionable Concept Card, (ICT) Instant Card Technique, (EIC) Eco Innovators Cards, (OS) Oblique Strategies, (VEC) Visual Explorer Cards, STUD, IDEO, SILK, DSKD, (BL) Bootleg, (MK) MethodKit. 95

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100 In these two diagrams, I analyzed eighteen typology of cards tool and I selected three of them for studied the details and using like driver for positioning my tool kit. After I chose my competitors for the card method based on the previous analysis, I go in deep to discover the specific characteristics of the three typology of cards. Among all eighteen examples I have selected only three for particular reasons. The first for customers they serve, all three of my competitors have as customers large multinationals like Google, Apple, Samsun, etc... Second according to the logic behind them, it is very different for all three. For Methodkit is based on the discussion using simply words that the user can find on the cards, IDEO uses images and detailed explanation of the process on card, and finally Eco Innovators Cards uses the examples related to the title of the cards for involve the user. Another reason is that both IDEO and Eco Innovators Cards have a subdivision by phase even if different, while MethodKit is based on freedom of use during the process. IDEO followed these three phase: Inspirations, Innovation and Implementation, Instead Eco Innovators Cards using Inspiration, Problem and Strategy. 3.7 main challenge Victor Papanek died in 1998, but 40 years after his book Design for the real world was first published, it is still in print and hugely influential and he is praised as a pioneer of sustainable and humanitarian design. One of my first jobs after leaving school was to design a table radio Papanek wrote in Design for the Real World. This was shroud design: the design of external covering of the mechanical and electrical guts. It was my first, and I hope my last, encounter with appearance design, styling, or design cosmetics. (Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change; Pantheon Books, 1971.) Further, he opined: Only a small part of our responsibility lies in the area of aesthetics. Papanek traveled around the world, he gave lectures about his ideas for ecologically sound design and designs 100

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102 to serve the poor, the disabled, the elderly and other minority segments of society. He wrote or co-wrote eight books. How could the designer, who must make a living actually serve real needs of human beings? I have tried to demonstrate that by freely giving 10 percent of his time, talents, and skills the designer can help. In other words, a willingness to volunteer. Design can and must become a way in which people can participate in changing society. Another famous sentence is All men are designers. Indeed all we do, almost all the time, is design, for design is basic to all human activity. The planning and patterning of any act towards a desired, foreseeable end constitutes the design process. Any attempt to separate design, to make it a thing-by-itself, works counter to the inherent value, of design as the primary underlying matrix of life. Composing an epic poem, executing a mural, painting a masterpiece, writing a concerto. However, design is also cleaning and reorganizing a desk drawer, pulling an impacted tooth, baking an apple pie. Design is the conscious effort to impose meaningful order. So now that I m at the end of my university career I start to find some answers in my head which are based on the shoulders of masters met these years. General questions such us: what is design? Who can be a designer? Also during these years I have cultivated a passion for design itself to figure out what was the context, the task the place to which I could dedicate all my energy. In this long journey already from the end of my third year, I started growing my inclination towards recycling. After thorough this issue thanks to some studies I looked at the world of upcycle. Through this method, I rediscover my creativity, because an upcycle project require a precise method that is based till now on a personal experience on the designer, who must create a personal knowledge and increase his aware by studying new discoveries and innovations in this area. Creativity is a mental attitude, in my case does not matter if it concerns a product, an environment or an accessory, every time I am or I was facing a project of upcycle, I found in myself all the excitement for the new challenge. In the United States and Europe, recycling refers to a process that yields a substance that is equivalent to the original raw material. The process is known as upcycling when a substance of greater value is obtained, while processes such as incineration, which yields only low value heat, are known as downcycling. 1. First problem cost of recycle: find a new way using less energy 102

103 for creating a second life cycle of products. Because the cost of refining metals is high, the metal recycling business has developed smoothly. By contrast, while the enactment of the Act on the Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging has resulted in the recycling of some waste plastics (primarily plastic bottles), it is known that it is difficult to pursue this recycling business in a profitable manner. If upcycling technology for waste plastics were to be developed, it would have the potential to become the basis of an economically Fig Picture made by Santtu Mustonen 103

104 feasible recycling method. Plastic bottles, for one, are great to create all kinds of neat things. Here are some more statistics to convince you of the urgency of our plastic bottle problem. Making bottles to meet America s demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year. The energy we waste using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes. Last year, the average American used 167 disposable water bottles, but only recycled 38. The recommended eight glasses of water a day, at U.S. tap rates equals about $.49 per year; that same amount of bottled water is about $1,400. So we have to think a new solution that bring the positive aspect from recycle but could reduce the energy for reuse materials.2. Second problem education: how improve the knowledge of the people about waste? And, how to teach them to reuse the materials? Education is a big challenge. The purpose of this thesis is highlights the fact that designer could be the bridge between different stakeholders such us company that are producing waste and common people or other company that could reuse the waste materials of them. For understand better the second challenge I want talk about two case studies. First is called Le collane di Rose From Uganda pearl necklaces from recycled paper. A good present and beautiful, made by the women of Meeting Point International, Kampala, local NGO and partner of AVSI Foundation, which cares for 5 thousand people, mostly HIV-positive women and orphans of war or disease. The organization was founded in the early 90s by an African nurse. Rose Busingye, which initially aimed to assist these mothers, who in the encounter with her have learned to help each other and to take care of themselves and their family. Their main job was to break stones: they were pebbles to sell for a few dollars a day. Rose, with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, thought to teach these women to make necklaces from recycled paper rolled and glue. This activity soon became a real job, which today enables these women to earn money and gain access to a quality of life better and better. Over the years, with the proceeds it was built a kindergarten, and now there is a project for the construction of a secondary school. Rose s necklaces are also required to send children to school and to buy the necessary drugs to defeat AIDS, a disease which still unfortunately many are sick. The example of the neckless is important because underline the figure of Rose Busingye like a bridge between normal people and the industries 104

105 Fig The upcycled Neckless Fig BBC news reportage from India waste situations 105

106 that produce waste. The second case study came from BBC News of July 2013, the title of the news was Upcycling - the answer to India s waste problem? There are many environmental issues in India. Air pollution, water pollution, garbage, and pollution of the natural environment are all challenges for India. The situation was worse between 1947 through According to data collection and environment assessment studies of World Bank experts, between 1995 through 2010, India has made one of the fastest progress in the world, in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality. T rash and garbage is a common sight in urban and rural areas of India. It is a major source of pollution. Indian cities alone generate more than 100 million tons of solid waste a year. Street corners are piled with trash. Public places and sidewalks are despoiled with filth and litter, rivers and canals act as garbage dumps. In part, India s garbage crisis is from rising consumption. India s waste problem also points to a stunning failure of governance. In 2011, several Indian cities embarked on waste-toenergy projects of the type in use in Germany, Switzerland and Japan. For example, New Delhi is implementing two incinerator projects aimed at turning the city s trash problem into electricity resource. These plants are being welcomed for addressing the city s chronic problems of excess untreated waste and a shortage of electric power. They are also being welcomed by those who seek to prevent water pollution, hygiene problems, and eliminate rotting trash that produces potent greenhouse gas methane. The projects are being opposed by waste collection workers and local unions who fear changing technology may deprive them of their livelihood and way of life. Now a growing trend called Upcycling is encouraging people to take waste products and give them a new life. But just how much of a difference will it make? Shilpa Kannan reports from Delhi. Not only upcycle DIY made from single people for daily life routine but also social upcycle, in India we can find schools, offices and public spaces with upcycle furniture, such as: school desks made from waste assembled creatively, milk cartons that become pen, lamps made of empty bottle, shelves made of plastic fruit baskets, walls built with pieces of bicycle and others stuff made with upcycle techniques. 3. Create treasure with trash is not an easy work 106

107 Upcycling is a buzzword tied to sustainability that is finding its way into everything from restaurant décor to online gift shops. Craft fairs are filled with Mason jar lights, homes are built from boxcars, napkin holders are made from toilet paper rolls, and all are labeled as Upcycled Art. Repurposing used items is a wonderful way to save money on materials and to spotlight our habits of creating too much disposable garbage. However, creative reuse isn t always good for the earth. Too many, upcycling is as simple as turning trash into treasure, but a better way to think of it is as a type of creative reuse that elevates the status of an item s life cycle in an environmentally sustainable way. The key to turning creative reuse genius into upcycling gold is to think of the final product s complete life cycle, and to consider what will happen when it, and all of its components are no longer desired in their current form. This cradle-to-cradle approach is what makes a creation environmentally sustainable. Sourcing materials is where things get tricky. If the materials used are in no way reusable, repairable, or recyclable, then have at it. Make it more valuable than it was before and bolster up its status in the cycle of use. But better still, you can use materials that can be composted, recycled, or dismantled and reused in an infinitely continuous cycle of life. Unfortunately, many creative reuse projects can actually turn once-recyclable or reusable items into inevitable trash. For example, plastic bottles cut up into light fixtures or plant holders are no longer recyclable. Electronic circuit boards get transformed into jewelry or attached to wood and other items that e-waste recyclers would turn away. Likewise with textiles: Instead of using tattered or stained T-shirts, perfectly wearable ones that could clothe the needy are sewn into pillows. Seashells glued to glass bottles, metals permanently adhered to non-metal materials, or paper and cardboard covered with tape or glue are all common reuse projects that turn a once-valuable, recyclable object into a landfill-bound piece of garbage. The principals of sustainable upcycling can and should extend beyond creative reuse projects and into our planning process for making all new items and commodities. From packaging to function, production process, shipment, by-product waste, environmental and social impact of material sources, and of course the cradle-to-cradle life cycle for the final product, all decisions along the creative process can be made with the environment in mind. 107

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110 PROJECT: THE CARDS METHOD BECAME A BRIDGE BETWEEN DESIGNERS AND UPCYCLE IDEAS I decided to dedicate a lot of space in my thesis to try to understand in detail what the upcycle was if it were truly an innovative way to deal with the problem of waste and consumerism. I later analyzed as today large companies, multinationals and innovative design studios, facing the generation of ideas. In fact, from the research that has emerged it is that one of the most interesting and innovative is the deck of cards. There is only one type of deck of cards, from research analysis you can see how there are different approaches to this method; my project is based on the main characteristics studied in competitors. Designers, like everyone else on the planet, have good reason to be concerned about the future. The world is volatile, and the ability of the human race to make a healthy home for itself is at stake. Threats from global warming, poor nutrition, disease, terrorism, and nuclear weapons challenge the potential of everyone to exercise productive energies for the common good. 110

111 Designers are certainly among those whose positive contributions are essential to the building of a more humane world. Trained in many disciplines whether product design, architecture, engineering, visual communication, or software development they are responsible for the artifacts, systems, and environments that make up the social world bridges, buildings, the Internet, transportation, advertising, and clothing, to cite only a few examples. Companies would have nothing to manufacture without designers, nor would they have services to offer. Paradoxically, designers united as a professional class could be inordinately powerful and yet their voices in the various for a where social policies and plans are discussed and debated are rarely present. While the world has heard many calls for social change, few have come from designers themselves, in part because the design community has not produced its own arguments about what kinds of change it would like to see. Tomás Maldonado and other design theorists in Italy beginning in the 1970s. They characterized the designer as one who projects or makes projects, and they spoke about the cultura del progetto or culture of the project. Maldonado strongly articulated his position in a seminal, 1970 book La Speranza Progettuale which was translated into English two years later as Design, Nature and Revolution: Toward a Critical Ecology. As a core theme, Maldonado focused on the human environment, which he characterized as one of the many subsystems that compose the vast ecological system of nature. Following a systems theory model, he claimed that among subsystems, only ours possesses today the virtual and real capacity of provoking substantial that is irreversible disturbances in the equilibrium of other subsystems. Designers are complicit in this process, but Maldonado raised the question of how their role could change. The impetus for his book was the urgency he felt to counter the rapid degradation of the environment and, although he recognized that autonomous design action is difficult in any social system, he urged a substantial effort on the designer s part to play a role in a process of social change. According to my research and the three challenge that I highlights I developed a project for help the designer to create and generate new ideas whit a sustainable thinking. This project stems from the need to implement the use of discipline upcycle and make sure that could spread in the areas of project. The decision 111

112 to create a toolkit is based on evidence that the design process needs to be guided and divided into steps that the designer needs to do to achieve a result. Cards as explained above in the section of the research are scientifically proven to be an excellent tool to stimulate discussion and interaction between the people and this is revealed as base to create innovative ideas, also in every design project the various steps are synthesized with the maps, for this become a fundamental point of the project. Maps that will be guidelines for creating a ordered summary of the steps of the project. There is currently no a deck of cards for designers to help develop projects upcycle, there are various types of card decks (eighteen of the most famous were analyzed in chapter Research). In particular, this is based on the ability to customize their cards with a personal experience and implement the deck of cards with instruments and eco pillars that are considered missing. Leave space for new cards is as if they are reflected in a physical concept of open source that is present in the website. Create a deck of cards to design is a long process, collect the experiences of designers share them through social, leave space for imagination and creativity during the design process. For these reasons I created UpKit a tool kit to generate sustainable ideas through a guided process which stimulates discussion and interaction in the work team. 112

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115 How can I help people to create Upcycle project using sustainable thinking? How PSS design could become a holistic approach for create an Upcycle project? What are the methods and tools that could help the designers to generate new ideas? 115

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120 4.1 Personas Thanks to the research and after an intense observation of the potential users, and taking in consideration my five years of experience I came out whit four archetypes built that are my personas. Each persona is based on a fictional character whose profile gathers up the features of an existing social group. In this way the personas assume the attributes of the groups they represent: from their social and demographic characteristics, to their own needs, desires, habits and cultural backgrounds. For this project, I identified four personas, from every part of the design, in which I investigated the possible need of a tool during the design process. In this case the four personas represent the four areas in which it would be interesting to introduce my project. The first group is about students that need something that help them during the design process like a guide line, the second is a professor. Teachers have an important task, because they have to educate future designers for this should find interesting ways to engage students during class and at the same time give content that can stimulate a personal opinion derived from a project experience. The third a fourth personas are two professional designer work in a famous design firm and in a international company that have a design department inside. Often it happens when you design students that during the process you get lost in the following roadways that are useless or you find yourself stuck, as no way out, looking for a system or a solution to the problem. The biggest problem that Yang Bo faces with her students is to teach a method, but also to raise awareness on the issue of sustainability is a hot topic in China. Professor Yang is a very up to date, is always looking for innovative ways to inspire students. Jessy is headed for a close knit group of designers. She loves her job. Often it faces projects in which the co-design method with customers is a key part, and the study is developing projects that require a sustainable approach. Luke is fond of sustainability. The biggest problem he encounters every time in his travels is to be able to co design with other people of completely different cultures and backgrounds. 120

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125 4.2 Main challenge and what if After a thorough search, and after defining the personas, before start designing I applied the method of frame challenge. The main challenge of my project are two: Knowledge of upcycle, because among designers but also among ordinary people the upcycle is a subject often very vague, devoid of rules that tend to reuse indistinguishably any material mixing it, without taking into account the future environmental impact. Many designers are not aware of this method and then do not take this in designing a new product that you could design a second life cycle of the product. In addition, there is a lack of knowledge around this method as I have already explained in the research is much more sustainable in some cases, compared to recycling. Exist many positive case studies but not well known, and the theoretical knowledge to build a personal experience can be found only in books. So, what if you could have something to give cues to create a personal knowledge in the upcycle field? Create a treasure from thrash. Today it often happens that the word upcycle describes products that are absolutely not sustainable and where the waste is transformed into other waste disposable. For this reason, what if the designer can have some insight that help to develop a useful and meaningful project? Guide process in Upcycle field. The final challenge will be to find a solution to ensure that any type of designer is guided through the process, because there are no tools to do sessions of upcycle co-design. Therefore, what if the designer had a pocket tools that help them to make sustainable projects? 4.3 Deck of cards and book for generate knoledge 125

126 During a huge brainstorming where I came out whit UpKit concept. First, I define a winning method in the design, opting for design Thinking that I was able to use for other projects, after I defined the tools contained in the deck cards and in the end all the things that are useful to improve the knowledge about upcycle method. So first of all I go in deep in the meaning of Design Thinking today. In The Sciences of the Artificial, Herbert Simon (1996) outlined one of the first formal models of the Design Thinking process. Simon s model consists of seven major stages, each with component stages and activities, which are as follows: Understanding, Observation, Defining (the problem), Ideation, Prototyping, and Testing. As these stages are not always sequential, often occurring in parallel and repeated over the course of an iterative process, they are best thought of as modes (Waloszek, 2012). Simon s model is seen by many as the most typical of the Design Thinking models; with the various stages represented in most Design Thinking projects. Design process models identify the stages involved and help describe and define the activities you would expect to be carried at each of these stages. Every project will involve activities specific to the product under development, but the central idea behind each stage remains, largely, the same. Below you will find a description of each stage as outlined by Simon in Basically, Design Thinking is a design methodology. It differs from traditional design approaches in specific ways described below. For example, some authors characterize Design Thinking as more creative and user-centered than traditional design approaches. Design Thinking can be regarded as a problem solving method or, by some definitions, a process for the resolution of problems. As a solution-based approach to solving problems, Design Thinking is particularly useful for addressing so-called wicked problems. Wicked means that they are ill defined or tricky. For ill defined problems, both the problem and the solution are unknown at the outset of the problem-solving process, as opposed to tame or well-defined problems, where the problem is evident and the solution is possible with some technical knowledge. Even when the general direction of the problem may be clear, considerable time and effort is spent on clarifying the requirements. Thus, in Design Thinking, a large part of the problem-solving activity is 126

127 comprised of defining and shaping the problem. In Design Thinking, designers do not make any early judgments about the quality of ideas. As a result, this minimizes the fear of failure and maximizes input and participation in the ideation and prototype phases. Outside the box thinking is encouraged in the earlier process stages, since this style of thinking is believed to lead to creative solutions that would not have emerged otherwise. The motto here is everyone is a designer. According to Baeck & Gremett (2011), Design Thinking is a more creative and usercentered approach to problem solving than traditional design methods. They point out that Design Thinking defies the obvious and instead embraces a more experimental approach. The heart of the method is in understanding the customer: All ideas and subsequent work stem from knowing the customer. The Design Thinking methodology is not just applied to design problems. Design Thinking is seen as a way to apply design methodologies to any of life s situations. It is often used to explore and define business problems and to define products and services. In other words, Design Thinking brings the design approach into the business world. In this vein, Design Thinking has been characterized as a discipline in which the designer s sensibility and methods match people s needs, by applying what is technically feasible and by contemplating what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity. As a methodology or style of thinking, it combines empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions, and rationality and feedback to analyze and fit solutions to the context. All this helps derive a solution that meets user needs and at the same time generates revenue, that is, drives business success. The characteristics of Design Thinking: Focus on human values and needs. Have empathy for the people, solicit user feedback, and use it in their designs Make experimentation an integral part of the design process, are active doers, communicate through meaningful artifacts 127

128 Collaborate with people from various backgrounds and respects their viewpoints; enable breakthrough insights and solutions to emerge from the diversity. Can deal with wicked problems, are curious and optimistic, are integrative (holistic) thinkers who look at the bigger context for the customer. Are mindful of the overall Design Thinking process with respect to goals and methods. Design Thinking process as follows: Understand the problem: Get an initial understanding of the problem Observe users: Observe users, visit them in their work environment, observe physical spaces and places Interpret the results: Interpret the empirical findings Generate ideas: Engage in brainstorming sessions to generate as many ideas as possible (expand the solution space) Prototype, experiment: Build prototypes and share them with other people (narrow down the solution space again, experimental phase) Test, implement, improve: Test, implement, and refine the design (narrow down the solution space again; solution-driven phase) So based on the Design Thinking method the process that I will use in the deck cards to guide the designer is made from five different steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. Empathize. Empathy is the starting point for innovation. The first stage of the Design Thinking process involves some form of information gathering and visualization. Designers will attempt to develop as deep understanding of the problems they are trying to 128

129 Fig Five process steps Fig The map of the tools design connected with the process steps Figure The map of eco pillars related with the tools and the design process 129

130 solve and to empathize with the eventual users, customers, and/ or consumers. In the second stage or mode, designers, possibly joined by some of the project stakeholders, investigate further by observing real users, employees, customers, and anyone either who will be using the product at the end or that might provide inspiration in the design process. Various methods of observation are used, but generally, the design team will passively observe users/ customers/etc. passively in a natural environment. Depending on time constraints, a substantial amount of information is gathered at the stage to inform the next stage and to develop the best possible understanding of the problems that underlie the development of that particular product. Empathy is the foundation of a human-centered design process. To empathize, we: Observe. View users and their behavior in the context of their lives. Engage. Interact with and interview users through both scheduled and short intercept encounters. Immerse. Experience what your user experiences. Define. At this stage the information gathered from the first two stages is collected together, analyzed and used to help the team define the problems they have identified up to this point. The results are interpreted in terms of the product under development, to help the designers establish features, functions, and any other elements that will allow them to solve the problems or, at the very least, allow users to rectify issues themselves with the minimum of difficulty. The define mode is when you unpack and synthesize your empathy findings into compelling needs and insights, and scope a specific and meaningful challenge. It is a mode of focus rather than flaring. Two goals of the define mode are to develop a deep understanding of your users and the design space and, based on that understanding, to come up with an actionable problem statement: your point of view. Your point of view should be a guiding statement that focuses on specific users, and insights and needs that you uncovered during the empathize mode. More than simply defining the problem to work on, your point of view is your unique design vision that you created based on your discoveries during your empathy work. Understanding the meaningful challenge to 130

131 address and the insights that you can leverage in your design work is fundamental to creating a successful solution. As a test, a good point of view is one that: Provides focus and frames the problem Inspires your team Provides a reference for evaluating competing ideas Empowers your team to make decisions independently in parallel Fuels brainstorms by suggesting how might we statements Captures the hearts and minds of people you meet Saves you from the impossible task of developing concepts that are all things to all people Is something you revisit and reformulate as you learn by doing Guides your innovation efforts Ideate. At this stage, designers generate ideas. They are encouraged to think outside the box to identify new solutions, and alternative ways of viewing the problem. Brainstorming sessions are typically used to stimulate free thinking and to expand the problem space. A variety of other methods are also used, but the central drive is to get as many ideas or problem solutions as possible, so that they can then investigate and test them to find the best way to either solve a problem or provide the elements required to circumvent the problem. Ideate is the mode during your design process in which you focus on idea generation. Mentally it represents a process of going wide in terms of concepts and outcomes it is a mode of flaring rather than focus. The goal of ideation is to explore a wide solution space both a large quantity of ideas and a diversity among those ideas. From this vast depository of ideas you can build prototypes to test with users. You ideate in order to transition from identifying problems into exploring solutions for your users. Various forms of ideation are leveraged to: Step beyond obvious solutions and thus increase the innovation potential of your solution set Harness the collective perspectives and strengths of your teams Uncover unexpected areas of exploration Create fluency (volume) and flexibility (variety) in your 131

132 innovation options Get obvious solutions out of your heads, and drive your team beyond them Prototype. The design team will now produce a number of inexpensive, scaled down versions of the product or specific features found within the product, so they can investigate the problem solutions generated in the previous stage. Prototypes might be shared and tested within the team itself, in other departments or on a small group of people outside the design team. This is an experimental phase, where the aim is to identify the best possible solution for each of the problems identified in the first three phases. The solutions are implemented within the prototypes and one-by-one they are investigated and either accepted or rejected on the basis of the user s experiences. By the end of this stage, the design team will have a better idea of the constraints inherent within the product, the problems that are present, and have a better/more informed perspective of how real users would behave, think, and feel when interacting with the end product. Prototyping is getting ideas and explorations out of your head and into the physical world. A prototype can be anything that takes a physical form be it a wall of post-it notes, a role-playing activity, a space, an object, an interface, or even a storyboard. The resolution of your prototype should be commensurate with your progress in your project. In early explorations keep your prototypes rough and rapid to allow yourself to learn quickly and investigate a lot of different possibilities. Prototypes are most successful when people (the design team, the user, and others) can experience and interact with them. What you learn from those interactions can help drive deeper empathy, as well as shape successful solutions. Test. Designers or evaluators rigorously test the complete product, with the best solutions identified during the prototyping phase. This is the last stage of the model, but in an iterative process the results collected from the testing phase are used to redefine one or more problems and inform the understanding of the users, the conditions of use, how people think, behave, and feel, and to empathize. Even within this phase, alterations and refinements are made to falsify problem solutions and derive as deep understanding of the product and its users as possible. Testing is the chance to 132

133 refine our solutions and make them better. The test mode is another iterative mode in which we place our low-resolution artifacts in the appropriate context of the user s life. Prototype as if you know you re right, but test as if you know you re wrong. After defined the process I do a huge brainstorming for understand which kind of tools are useful to generate new idea in the five phase. I came out with 32 tools. Most of the tools can be use in different phase of the process not only in one as I show in the map that I design. 1. Scenario. Is a narrative of foreseeable interactions of user roles and the technical system, which usually includes computer hardware and software. A scenario has a goal, which is usually functional. A scenario describes one way that a system is or is envisaged to be used in the context of activity in a defined time frame. The time frame for a scenario could be a single transaction; a business operation; a day or other period; or the whole operational life of a system. Similarly, the scope of a scenario could be a single system or piece of equipment; an equipped team or department; or an entire organization. 2. Focus group. Is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members. 3. Prototype. A prototype is designed to test and try a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. Prototypes explore different aspects of an intended design: A Proof-of-Principle Prototype explores some functional, but not all, aspects of the intended design. A Form Study Prototype explores the size and appearance, but not the functionality, of the intended design. A User Experience Prototype captures 133

134 enough aspects of the intended design that it can support user research. A Visual Prototype captures the size and appearance, but not the functionality, of the intended design. A Functional Prototype captures both function and appearance of the intended design. It may be created in with a different method and scale from final design. 4. Swot analysis. Is a structured planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A Swot analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. The degree to which the internal environment of the firm matches with the external environment is expressed by the concept of strategic fit. Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others. Weaknesses: characteristics that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to others. Opportunities: elements that the project could exploit to its advantage. Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project. 5. Visualizing data. Is viewed by many disciplines as a modern equivalent of visual communication. It is not owned by any one field, but rather finds interpretation across many. It involves the creation and study of the visual representation of data, meaning information that has been abstracted in some schematic form, including attributes or variables for the units of information. A primary goal of data visualization is to communicate information clearly and efficiently to users via the statistical graphics, plots, 134

135 information graphics, tables, and charts selected. Effective visualization helps users in analyzing and reasoning about data and evidence. It makes complex data more accessible, understandable and usable. 6. Business plan. Is a strategic management and lean startup template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It is a visual chart with elements describing a firm s or product s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. It assists firms in aligning their activities by illustrating potential trade-offs. 7. Demo video. Imaging is to capture the enemy language to communicate with the parties. Planning to video if you can also create a form in advance to take advantage of the storyboard, to predict there may be difficult cases to take the actual situation. To some extent, while planning a long shooting video contains some content when contemplating whether to be useful, to edit the video to only simple shooting recall that it is more advantageous in terms of cost to. Meetings or groups when you capture a wealth of information and activities to show the video to others you can see a very strong side effects, effective or something yes we can suggest a new perspective for sure not 8. Empathy map. Good design is grounded in a deep understanding of the person for whom you are designing. Designers have many techniques for developing this sort of empathy. An Empathy Map is one tool to help you synthesize your observations and draw out unexpected insights. 9. Survey. The survey research design is a very valuable tool for assessing opinions and trends. Even on a small scale, such as local government or small businesses, judging opinion with carefully designed surveys can dramatically change strategies. 10. Brainstorming. Brainstorming is a great way to come up with a lot of ideas that you would not be able to generate by just sitting down with a pen and paper. The intention of brainstorming is to leverage the collective thinking of the group, by engaging with each other, listening, and building on other ideas. Conducting a brainstorm also creates a distinct segment of time when you intentionally turn up the generative part of your brain and turn down the 135

136 evaluative part. Brainstorming can be used throughout a design process; of course to come up with design solutions, but also any time you are trying to come up with ideas, such as planning where to do empathy work, or thinking about product and services related to your project as two examples. 11. Interview. Time with users is precious; you need to make the most of it! While we always must allow room for the spontaneous, blissful serendipity of a user-guided conversation, we should never abdicate our responsibility to prepare for interviews. Especially in following up with users (after testing, etc), it is imperative to plan your interviews. You may not get to every question you prepare, but you should come in with a plan for engagement. 12. Shadowing. Shadowing originated out of 1950 s Management Studies and Henry Minzberg s 1970 s iterations on structured observation. Contextualized information about how, when and why people act is needed to generate understanding of human need and to develop meaningful insights for innovation. Traditional observation and diary studies do not provide the same depth of contextual information or detail about purpose that is achieved through the shadowing method. Shadowing provides a rich, comprehensive data set about the patterns of actions, interdependence and motivations of users. Shadowing is used to gain understanding of an individual s behavior, opinions and drivers as well as to understand a person s role and paths through an organization or interactions with other objects or people in a given setting. It is used in organizational change assessment, product marketing or positioning, and experience and service design. 13. User observation. Observational research is particularly prevalent in the social sciences and in marketing. It is a social research technique that involves the direct observation of phenomena in their natural setting. It is typically divided into nonparticipant observation, and participant observation. Cases studies and archival research are special types of observational research. Nonparticipant observation it is simply studying behaviors that occur naturally in natural contexts, where there is no attempt to manipulate variables. 136

137 It permits measuring what behavior is really like. However, its typical limitations consist in its incapability exploring the actual causes of behaviors, and the impossibility to determine if a given observation is truly representative of what normally occurs. 14. Field research. A field research method whereby the researcher develops an understanding of the composition of a particular setting or society by taking part in the everyday routines and rituals alongside its members. Originally developed in the early 20th century by anthropologists researching native societies in developing countries; now employed by researchers studying a range of issues. 15. what if. Designers rely on personal communication and, particularly, feedback, during design work. You request feedback from users about your solution concepts, and you seek feedback from colleagues about design frameworks you are developing. Outside the project itself, fellow designers need to communicate how they are working together as a team. Feedback is best given with I statements. What if is a simple tool to encourage open feedback. 16. Desk research. In design research, the methods and data collected differ from those emphasized in market or academic research. Ethnographic approaches to participant interaction clarifies complex human needs, behaviors, and perspectives. Field immersions unearth contextual and environmental factors that shape user experience. Rigorous, old-fashioned desk research and expert consultation support the fieldwork. But let s be clear: good design research doesn t end with good data. 17. Challenge framing. One way in which we deal with the complexity of the world is to make assumptions about many things. Our pattern-matching ability is a great help in allowing us to take short cuts but it often ends up in us not noticing many things. If we do not take, deliberate and conscious action, our subconscious will let many assumptions pass by unnoticed. 18. Competitive analysis. Competitive analysis, as the name implies, is an exploration of the companies in a given industry sector or market niche that are competing with 137

138 your company s products or services for market share. The analysis may be an in-depth exploration of the top five competitors, or a larger number of competitors could be. In most cases, the client will have identified the target competitors for you. The primary benefits of any competitive analysis are a better understanding of what your competitors are doing, what they are offering to customers, and how to maintain your competitive advantage. The findings from this analysis are likely to factor strongly into your own company s strategic planning. However, this is definitely not the only take-away from the process of analyzing competitors. 19. Role play. By getting out of your own character, you are also mentally getting out of your own way of thinking. By getting into another person (in the way that an actor does), you take on that person s characteristics and find it easier to think like them. Moving the way they move helps the association also. Getting into another character also legitimizes thinking differently, helping you to feel ok about acting strangely. 20. Storyboard. The storyboard is a tool derived from the cinematographic tradition; it is the representation of use cases through a series of drawings or pictures, put together in a narrative sequence. The service storyboard shows the manifestation of every touchpoints and the relationships between them and the user in the creation of the experience. 21. Offering map. The aim of an offering map is to describe in a synthetic way what the service offers to its users. There is not a standard format for this tool: the offering could be described by words or could be illustrated by images, but most frequently, it is visualized through a graph. This instrument could support the elaboration of the service idea as well the development of some specific solutions, it could be a tool for the implementation of the concept but also for the communication of the service to the final user. In each one of these situations, the offering map will assume different configurations and languages with reference to the specific aims and receivers involved. 22. System map. The system map is a visual description of 138

139 the service technical organization: the different actors involved, their mutual links and the flows of materials, energy, information and money through the system. System mapping is a useful method for both planning and evaluating efforts that aim to change systems that is, how people and organizations relate. Systems efforts might, for example, try to change or improve the way in which an organization functions, create collaborative relationships or networks, or change the context or environment in which social change occurs. 23. Sketching together. The group sketching is a quick, fast and economic tool for developing and explaining ideas simultaneously. It is used during the co-design sessions in order to share the insights inside the team: this tool offers a common ground for the discussion even when the participants have different cultural and social backgrounds. It is based on basic and simple drawings in order to encourage the participation of everybody. 24. Touchpoint map. Conceived by Gianluca Brugnoli -teacher at Politecnico di Milano and designer at Frog Design- the touchpoints matrix merges some features of the customer journey maps with some features of the system maps and is based on the use of personas. The basic idea is to provide a visual framework that enables designer to connect the dots of the user experience in order to see the different configurations, interfaces, contexts and results of the interaction with a specific product-service system. The matrix is built by listing vertically the different devices or contexts that are part of the system and by listing horizontally the main actions that are supported by the system itself. Once this structure has been composed, the designer can put a specific persona inside and imagine his journey through the different touchpoints, connecting the related dots. In this way the matrix brings to a deeper comprehension of the interaction and facilitates a further development of the opportunities given by the system -of the possible entry points and paths- shifting the focus of the design activities to connections: Design for connections: in the system scenario, design is mainly focused on finding the connections with the whole network, than in creating closed 139

140 and self-sufficient systems, tools and services. Connections are social and cultural assets, other than technical. 25. Mockup. The mock up is a model, an illustration or a collage describing an idea. At the beginning of the design process, the mock up is mainly made through the use of photomontages, created with photos of existing situations, products or services combined with other elements. During the next phases the mock up get more and more realistic, till they become real prototypes representing the main features of the project. 26. Service blueprint. The blueprint is an operational tool that describes the nature and the characteristics of the service interaction in enough detail to verify, implement and maintain it. It is based on a graphical technique that displays the process functions above and below the line of visibility to the customer: all the touchpoints and the backstage processes are documented and aligned to the user experience. 27. Mind map. The mind map is a tool for the visual elicitation of our thoughts and their conations. The visualization begins with a problem or an idea put in the center of the representation. Then signs, lines, words and drawings are used in order to build a system of thoughts around the starting point. The hand and the mind work simultaneously. Use it to explore and develop ideas for a specific problem. Use it to think, doodle and see where it takes you. Use it to take notes during discussions, lectures and conferences. Use it to summarize books and papers. 28. Mood board. A mood board is a visual composition of pictures and materials that propose an atmosphere by giving the generic perception of it. The mood board helps in the elicitation of some values the service has that are difficult to be described by words. The use of a visual representation fixes univocally the perception of the service inside the team. 29. Personas. The personas are archetypes built after an exhaustive observation of the potential users. Each persona 140

141 is based on a fictional character whose profile gathers up the features of an existing social group. In this way, the personas assume the attributes of the groups they represent: from their social and demographic characteristics, to their own needs, desires, habits and cultural backgrounds. 30. Experience prototype. The experience prototype is a simulation of the service experience that foresees some of its performances through the use of the specific physical touchpoints involved. The experience prototype allows designers to show and test the solution through an active participation of the users. The service prototype is a tool for testing the service by observing the interaction of the user with a prototype of the service put in the place, situation and condition where the service will actually exist. The aim is verifying what happens when some external factors interfere during the service delivery, factors that it s not possible to verify during the preceding tests in the laboratory but that have a great impact on the user perception and experience. 31. Customer journey map. The customer journey map is an oriented graph that describes the journey of a user by representing the different touchpoints that characterize his interaction with the service. In this kind of visualization, the interaction is described step by step as in the classical blueprint, but there is a stronger emphasis on some aspects as the flux of information and the physical devices involved. At the same time there is a higher level of synthesis than in the blueprint: the representation is simplified trough the loss of the redundant information and of the deepest details 32. Five sense. Our perceptions of the world are built on multiple senses. They interact to help us make sense of our surroundings, so a car will seem to be traveling faster if it makes a lot of noise. And whether we want to buy a sports car, or a vacuum cleaner, it s our multi-sensory impression of a product or service that dictates how we feel about it. So we could use sound, scent, and taste when tackling a design challenge. Perhaps a cohesive approach with all our senses considered would make our spaces more creative, joyful, and experiential. 141

142 After shape and describe these 32 tools for generate new ideas I exploring the world of upcycle and sustainable thinking, where I try to define the pillars for doing the upcycle project, because the consumption habits of modern consumer lifestyles are causing a huge worldwide waste problem. Having overfilled local landfill capacities, many first world nations are now exporting their refuse to third world countries. This is having a devastating impact on ecosystems and cultures throughout the world. Some alternative energy companies are developing new ways to recycle waste by generating electricity from landfill waste and pollution. This pillar is useful to keep in mind that when design a new product or service, is matter also to design the energy that will use during the process. So, what does it mean for a material or a product to be sustainable? There are few absolute answers to this, but there are basic questions to ask as a starting point to assess the sustainability of any material. 1. What is its real value -- for initial use and long term? 2. Does it provide optimal performance for its application? 3. Is it widely available? 4. How ubiquitous are the source materials? Or, do they regenerate and how quickly? 5. What is needed to process it into a usable form? Did this process produce/release toxins or destroy habitat? 6. How much energy and water did it take to make it? 7. How much waste material did it generate? 8. What does it need to operate maintenance inputs, operating energy? 9. Were the people involved in producing, delivering, and installing it fairly compensated? 10. Were they provided with safe and healthy working conditions? 11. How long will it last? 12. What happens at the end of its service life? As I showed in the picture that I design, during the process does not exist a precise moment in which is correct use the pillars but are following the flow of design process. In fact, the goal of the eco pillars cards is using much more sustainable pillars as possible inside the design project. The eco pillars are 16: 142

143 1. Local productions. This pillar aims to promote local sourcing through the branding of local makers or producers and awareness raising of the role of the different actors along the products supply chain. As well as providing, end users with better knowledge and information on local products. The local production also works on strengthening links between the future product and other primary producers in the area and enhancing their market opportunities. Use a local production is important to guarantee some advantages. Working with a domestic manufacturer makes the communication process easy. Real time phone and in-person conversations result in a better understanding of the specifics of your product. Language barriers, time zone differences and long overseas flights are eliminated. For example, a small scale production in the U.S. eliminates the waste of unneeded products otherwise made just to meet overseas minimums. Simplifying and controlling the development and manufacturing process will reduce thousands of waste garments by ensuring each item is wearable, fits properly and remains sellable. There are warehouses upon warehouses full of obsolete inventory and rejected goods. Manufacturing in the U.S. offers a sustainable approach. 2. Disposables. Do you really need a disposable part? Or, can you design a second life for it? Is considered throwaway, something you use once and dump, regardless of the life that may be left in it. As a frugal shopper with a concern for the state of our environment, that just won t do. The final output is important will not use only one time but have a long life. Things usually have two sides. However, when it comes to the disadvantages, I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of disposable items. Firstly, disposable items pollute environment greatly, such as disposable chopsticks. Chopsticks in many hotels are disposable. This kind of chopstick is made of wood. There are many hotels use the chopsticks throughout the country every day. Such as statistics, we must cut down a forest to product the chopsticks. If it goes on like this, water and soil of our country will loss so much. Then it will into a serious 143

144 ecological imbalance. In addition, disposable plastic cups and lunch boxes caused a lot of white pollution. It affects the environmental pollution. The important thing is that every one of us should take into account the present environmental problems. We should consider about environment and do what we do. Remember that we have only one earth. 3. Zero waste. Is a philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused. No trash is sent to landfills and incinerators. The process recommended is one similar to the way that resources are reused in nature. Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health (http: // zwia. org / standards /zw community-principles/) Zero Waste refers to waste management and planning approaches which emphasize waste prevention as opposed to end of pipe waste management. It is a whole systems approach that aims for a massive change in the way materials flow through society, resulting in no waste. Zero waste encompasses more than eliminating waste through recycling and reuse, it focuses on restructuring production and distribution systems to reduce waste. Zero waste is more of a goal or ideal rather than a hard target. 4. Dematerializations. The dematerialization of a product literally means less. No material is used to deliver the same level of functionality to the user. Sharing, borrowing and the organization of group services that facilitate and cater for communities needs could alleviate the requirement of ownership of many products. In his book In the Bubble: designing in a complex world, John Thakara states that, the average consumer power tool is used for ten minutes in 144

145 its entire life but it takes hundreds of times its own weight to manufacture such an object (John Thackara, In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World; Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2005.) A product service system with shared tools could simply offer access to them when needed. This shift from a reliance on products to services is the process of dematerialization. Digital music distribution systems, car clubs, bike hire schemes and laundry services are all examples of dematerialization. Servicizing is a transaction through which value is provided by a combination of products and services in which the satisfaction of customer needs is achieved either by selling the function of the product rather than the product itself, or by increasing the service component of a product offer. The concept is based on the idea that what customers want from products is not necessarily ownership, but rather the function that the product provides or the service the product can deliver. 5. Reuse materials. How waste materials could became a row material for a new project? The most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. Making a new product requires many materials and energy raw materials must be extracted from the earth, and the product must be fabricated then transported to wherever it will be sold. As a result, reduction and reuse are the most effective ways you can save natural resources, protect the environment and save money. Often we do not realize that the waste materials are the raw materials of the future. When designing you can start from the reuse of certain materials that will become the basis of the project. The upcycle technique is based on this approach. In contrast, recycling is the breaking down of the used item into raw materials which are used to make new items and has certain potential advantages: energy and raw materials savings as replacing many single use products with one reusable one reduces the number that need to be manufactured. Reduced disposal needs and costs. Refurbishment can bring sophisticated, sustainable, well paid jobs to underdeveloped economies. Cost savings for business and consumers as a reusable product is often 145

146 cheaper than the many single use products it replaces. Some older items were better handcrafted and appreciate in value. 6. Mixed materials. A sustainable product that in the future will be designed for a new life must take into account, the union of different materials could make it impossible reuse the product in the future design project. For example, the use of glues or the union of different plastic material makes the material unusable. For this is important during the process, consider what type of materials you are using and how you plan to join them in the final product. When paper is recycled, it s all mixed together into a pulp. That pulp is washed, cleaned, and then pressed into new paper sheets. During that process, wastes like paper fibers, inks, cleaning chemicals, and dyes are filtered out into one giant pudding known as paper sludge. The sludge is then either burned or sent to a landfill, where it can leach dozens of toxic chemicals and heavy metals into groundwater. If you think that there would be regulations against that, you d be right. However, there is one loophole: mixing anything else with the paper sludge, even just sand, turns it from waste into a product. Moreover, there are no regulations against tossing tens of thousands of tons of your product into a landfill. 7. Less packaging. How can we minimize the amount of packaging we use? How can we make more of it recyclable? How can we source more materials from natural, renewable resources? How can we get away from petroleum-based packaging? There are many positive examples of products where the packaging not only be a temporary function but reoccurs as an essential part of the product, in other cases it is proposed in a natural key made from scrap materials; make it reusable eliminating waste or to design the product as a storage unit with the most minimal amount of waste. For examples, Y water is an organic, low calorie drink filled with nutritional co-factors for kids. Here s a good example of a product with packaging so clever, it isn t likely to be thrown away. In fact, the manufacturer encourages kids to keep the unique interlocking packaging to play with. The bottles come with Y knots, large rubber bands that 146

147 kids can use to connect them to build unique designs unlimited by anything except their imaginations. Love this concept for packaging. The criteria presented here blend broad sustainability and industrial ecology objectives with business considerations and strategies that address the environmental concerns related to the life cycle of packaging made by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). Is beneficial, safe & healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle Meets market criteria for performance and cost Is sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy Optimizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials Is manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices Is made from materials healthy throughout the life cycle Is physically designed to optimize materials and energy Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial closed loop cycles 8. Modularity. Is the degree to which a system s components may be separated and recombined in a Modular design, or modularity in design, is a design approach that subdivides a system into smaller parts called modules or skids that can be independently created and then used in different systems. A modular system can be characterized by functional partitioning into discrete scalable, reusable modules, rigorous use of well-defined modular interfaces, and making use of industry standards for interfaces. Besides reduction in cost, and flexibility in design, modularity offers other benefits such as augmentation (adding new solution by merely plugging in a new module), and exclusion. Examples of modular systems are cars, computers, process systems, solar panels 147

148 and wind turbines, elevators and modular buildings. Earlier examples include looms, railroad signaling systems, telephone exchanges, pipe organs and electric power distribution systems. Computers use modularity to overcome changing customer demands and to make the manufacturing process more adaptive to change. Modular design is an attempt to combine the advantages of standardization (high volume normally equals low manufacturing costs) with those of customization. 9. Longevity. Predict specific longevity of a product life cycle is difficult; businesses want a general idea of the expected length of the life cycle for optimized production and marketing planning. Technology life cycles tend to unfold quickly as competition intensifies and technology evolves. Longevity is important factor because avoid the need to produce many products that have to became waste very soon. 10. Efficiently. Is the ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time in doing something or in producing a desired result. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste. In more mathematical or scientific terms, it is a measure of the extent to which input is well used for an intended task or function (output). It often specifically comprises the capability of a specific application of effort to produce a specific outcome with a minimum amount or quantity of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort. Efficiency of course refers to very different inputs and outputs in different fields and industries. 11. Life cycle. How all the Life cycle will be sustainable for the environment? The product life cycle is a well-established marketing concept that helps companies understand the typical progression of products in the marketplace and helps them determine marketing strategies. The life cycle runs from an initial product launch through completion of the life cycle at the point the product becomes obsolete. The four stages of the life cycle are introduction, growth, maturity and decline. At introduction, the product is launched. During the growth phase, sales growth builds sharply. At maturity, sales typically plateau. During decline, 148

149 the product nears its relevant end and a new version or upgrade is often introduced. n industry, product lifecycle management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from inception, through engineering design and manufacture, to service and disposal of manufactured products. PLM integrates people, data, processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise. PLM systems help organizations in coping with the increasing complexity and engineering challenges of developing new products for the global competitive markets. 12. Share goods. Sharing economy or collaborative consumption refers to peer-to-peer-based sharing of access to goods and services (coordinated through community-based online services). Sharing economy can take a variety of forms, including using information technology to provide individuals, corporations, nonprofits and governments with information that enables the optimization of resources through the redistribution, sharing and reuse of excess capacity in goods and services. There are three main types of collaborative consumption: Product-service system, goods that are privately owned can be shared or rented out via peer-topeer marketplaces. Redistribution markets, a system of collaborative consumption is based on used or pre-owned goods being passed on from someone who does not want them to someone who does want them. This is another alternative to the more common reduce, reuse, recycle, repair methods of dealing with waste. Collaborative lifestyles, this system is based on people with similar needs or interests banding together to share and exchange lesstangible assets such as time, space, skills, and money. 13. No toxic materials. Toxic materials are substances that may cause harm to an individual if it enters the body. Are not good for the environmental. Toxic materials may enter the body in different ways. These ways are called the route of exposure. During the process, it is important to take in account: the material using during the process, the material chosen for the product finished is not toxic, 149

150 or which produce toxic substances. Often it happens that toxic substances are used, or that are produced during machining. Contamination is one of the biggest obstacles in the recycling industry right now. If there are impurities or toxins on the original material say lead paint from an aluminum spray can they will usually make it through the recycling process and end up buried in the new product, which might turn out to be, say, a soda can. The worst part is that sometimes we don t know when something s contaminated until it s too late. For example, we re just realizing that hundreds of buildings in Taiwan made from recycled steel have been giving people gamma radiation poisoning and not the good kind for the past twelve years. 14. Change behaviors. Tackling environmental issues requires change at every level. Even within large powerful organisations change has to begin with someone acting differently. Behavioral change isn t enough on its own, but it is vital. Behavioral change theories are attempts to explain why behaviors change, the behaviors could influence the good habits of the people. These theories cite environmental, personal, and behavioral characteristics as the major factors in behavioral determination. Sometimes highlighting financial benefits can instigate behavioral change. But decisions based on economic motives alone can be problematic. Human behavior underlies almost all environmental problems, such as air and water pollution, climate change, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity. Research in psychology offers clues as to why people engage in unsustainable behaviors despite their concern about the broader consequences. At the same time, the research also explains why people go out of their way to behave sustainably, and how it is possible to motivate and empower sustainable actions. The goal of the psychology of sustainable behavior is to create the conditions that make sustainable action the most appealing or natural choice. 15. Eco materials. What is a Sustainable Material? This pillar is important in the definition phase of product or service because it has as a goal to increase the knowledge of the world of sustainable materials, also defined eco-materials. 150

151 Eco-design is an approach to designing product with special consideration for the environmental impacts of the product during its whole lifecycle. In a life cycle assessment, the life cycle of a product is usually divided into procurement, manufacture, use, and disposal. Ecodesign is a growing responsibility and understanding of our ecological footprint on the planet. Green awareness, overpopulation, industrialization and an increased environmental population have led to the questioning of consumer values. It is imperative to search for new building solutions that are environmentally friendly and lead to a reduction in the consumption of materials and energy. There are a number of tools and frameworks for evaluating sustainability in materials, in business practices, in urban planning, in construction, contribute to sustainability in many respects, and in others these tools are helping the industry set goals to foster improvements in their practices and their product lines to advance global progress towards a more sustainable society. 16. Unrepairable. Products must be durable, easy and affordable to repair, and information on these aspects must be clearly available to consumers. This will help the environment, the economy and society as a whole. If products last longer and are better repairable, their early replacement by new products can be avoided. This way, the depletion of natural resources is reduced. Apart from this, value is maintained, since finished products have more economic value than the raw materials inside them. If repair and maintenance services become cheaper, new, green jobs can be created. All this will stimulate a more sustainable consumption pattern and will lead society as a whole towards a circular economy. A disposable lifestyle and mentality is certainly not a problem in emerging markets, where the ability to repair a product is expected, and anything not designed with this in mind will almost certainly fail. This is more than just economic necessity. Though economics have been a factor in preserving the DIY mindset, there is a deeper, cultural tradition rooted in the sense of pride and satisfaction that comes from being able to fix things that are broken. 151

152 17. Energy waste. The energy is an important part for create a sustainable product. In fact when the designer star to think about the product rarely happen that he or she take care also about how many energy the product need during the process, or how many energy the product could spend during the life cycle. Therefore, the questions that we have to answer is: how could reduce energy waste in this project? How may energy the product could spend during the life cycle? Because there are different type of energy: chemical, mechanical, and human. Every energy have a cost and affect the environment. How the energy could became something positive for the environment? There are a lot of renewable energy you could start to think about it. Sustainable energy is energy obtained from nonexhaustible resources. By definition, sustainable energy serves the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Technologies that promote sustainable energy include renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal energy, bioenergy, tidal power and technologies designed to improve energy efficiency. 4.4 What, when, where and how use UpKit WHAT: Upkit, it is a kit for the design and generation of knowledge in the field of upcycle. For using this kit you have to adding some simple tools such as post-it, pen ruler, and other things that are useful during the designing phase. The main tool is a deck of cards that need to guide the designer during the design process assisted by a portable booklet with the explanation of the different tools included in the cards. I have also created a series of maps that are used to explain and focus the different parts of the project such as business, the idea etc. Finally, I created an insert that contains cues to increase the knowledge of the method of upcycle. 13. Deck of cards. The deck consist in fifth-three squared (the same dimension of the post-it) cards divided through 152

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170 Jessy Rochulos 43 years old Segnor Design Strategist uc R e 4 years old ie Designer ecess y Meggy is following a course of Innovation Studio at Tongji University and the professor asks a brief about create an innovative and sustainable ideas by reusing the waste of a local company supplies Second she chose the cards tools, using the light blue cards and following the instruction book provided by the toolkit of the teacher or in the website Finally, the Jessy group start to design using the tools chosen from the deck of cards by creating a custom process path he s e h ocess ec c s e s he c s hoose he ool c s uy o l e he e ess The professor Yang Bo few weeks before starting this course, was aware of UpKit through a conference, and bought it online at Re he se He prepared the lesson using the Insert upcycle magazine contained in kit o lo o e sou ce e ls o he e e he co ll 170

171 Luca Ravenna 47 years old Chief Designer Jessy Rochulos 43 years old Segnor Design Strategist Necessity Luca must create a new collection of children books for EF for this reason he move from London to Milan in the consultants design studio DINN! 1 2 Awareness Jessy is a signor Design Strategist for DINN! For many years, she using UpKit cards to design new projects and involve her design team Improve the awareness thanks the Up Insert Luca used the Insert upcycle magazine for create a basic knowledge on the topic of the upcycle Sign up in the Up Blog Jessy is inscribed to the blog of UpKit where she published case studies of projects in which she used this method Spread the knowledge about Up Kit Jessy buy an UpKit for Luca, for preparing him to the co-design workshop that will be in Milan DINN! studio Print the Open-source materials from web Luca decided to print through the website the toolkit for his colleagues Sign up for news It is sign up for the newsletter, to receive information and updates cards Use the process designed with UpKit Luca come back to London in his team to work together in with the process designed with Jessy in Milan In the DINN! studio begin a session of co-design in which together deciding the process, discussing the cards tools to use and the eco pillars to achieve in the project Choose the tool cards

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173 4.5 Web site: open source aproach In production and development, open source as a development model promotes universal access via a free license to a product s design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint, including subsequent improvements to it by anyone. Before the phrase open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of other terms. Open source gained hold with the rise of the Internet, and the attendant need for massive retooling of the computing source code. Opening the source code enabled a self-enhancing diversity of production models, communication paths, and interactive communities. The open-source software movement arose to clarify the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues created. For this project has been also designed online support, based on a platform where it will be part of a blog with news from the user and the server, a learning part where it is possible see the explanation of each card and download the pdf about all the deck cards. Finally, there will be the maps section where you can download the maps pdf. I know the structure of the website will be: About us: where there will be an explained about how this project was born, the goals it wants to achieve, who supports it and is using it. Also will be clearly visible the possibility to buy the UpKit Blog: will be the online and interactive translation of the Insert upcycle magazine contained in the toolkit, where people can post articles and tap into knowledge provided in this page. Cards: This section will provide the contents of the deck cards and instructions book. There is the possible to contribute in the project by reporting tips and ideas. Maps: the map notes is available online in this section where, as in the cards page, there is the possibility to contribute for improving the design of the project through comments and ideas Contact: This page will be dedicated to contacts UpKit 173

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176 DESIGN: TOUCH-POINTS 5.1 Design and graphic The whole project is based on a scale of colors that includes three main colors, the green that is linked to the world of sustainability and upcycle, the blue that was chosen for its being neutral and challenging indeed is used for the tools, and finally the purple, which is then used as a color that contains the other two. The whole UpKit is thought to be contained in an A4 size envelope. In fact, as you can see from the illustration, the cards, the booklet portable and notes with maps are contained in 29.7 * 21 cm, while the magazine is as big as an A4. LOGO: The main idea behind this logo is the concept of the generation new sustainable ideas, for this reason I used the bulb but dividing it with the three colors. The process represents by the purple color using for the bulb base, which is the root of the project. The arrows blue represent two tools because in the project are contained many cards tools but you have the possibility to customize and create a personal phat for the project (thirty-two). The green arrow represents the eco pillar that will be driving the designer for create a sustainable project. In the pictures above, I highlighted the color palette used for the logo, the possibility to do black and white and the main lines of construction. 176

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180 CARD DECK: As I described in the previous chapter the card deck is made up of three types of cards, the cards process, the tool cards and eco pillars cards. Also in the deck will be an information leaflet. 180

181 The dimension of the cards are 7.5 * 7.5 centimeters like a post it, each card has an icon on the front or a number and a keyword with a brief description. Process card: The color palette of these cards are made by five colors, in fact them contain the main colors of the project. The cards are on the front have a number indicating the number of steps in the process with the keyword that identifies the content, and a brief explanation on the back as a reminder. Tools cards: for the cards tools I used the color scale in shades of blue. Each card is on the front has an icon that graphically summarizes the content, a keyword that is the name of the tool and a brief description. On the back there are some lines that are used to write personal thoughts to remember how to use the card. Eco pillars cards: the cards of the sustainable pillars are sixteen and have the same characteristics as those of the card tools. Created with the icon, the keyword and a short description, also having them a blank space on the back to customize the card. I used a color scale of the green because it binds to the world of sustainability. INSTRUCTIONS BOOK: The dimensions are designed because it can be carried in your pocket. The sections of the book are determined by the colors chosen for the process, tools and eco pillars. The graphics of the book incorporates the colors and icons of graphic cards. In addition using a neutral color such as white for the introduction on upcycle and on UpKit. MAP NOTES: Maps are around thirteen, each map is printed in grayscale on thin sheets contained in a notebook, which thanks to the hatch can be removed and used as a reminder or directly on the paper in the empty spaces. I used the words in capital letters (Karla regular font) to define the content, and the Times New Roman font in italics to add brief explanations. In every page, there is the logo in grayscale and the title of the map, written big. 181

182 5.2 Pilot and prototyping As an idea progresses from proof of concept testing through multiple stages of rapid prototyping, there are a raft of challenges: the feasibility of making the product, delivering the service, how one would deal with particular issues or pinch-points, what the economics look like and how it could be cheapened. The driving principles at this stage are speed, keeping costs low, tangibility and feedback loops from users and specialists. A Pilot uses the full production system and tests it against a subset of the general intended audience. The reason for doing a pilot is to get a better understanding of how the product will be used in the field and to refine the product. At this stage with regard to the prototyping of the project I made a plan that provides two-steps of prototyping and one of pilot. The first step of prototyping focused on the readability of the cards, if the user can read clearly the content on the cards. For this, I have done a survey / interview by asking to the designers to judge the aesthetics of the cards in terms of readability and use. The result was that most of the people asked that the logos on the cards were drawn larger for greater legibility of the meaning of the symbol. Second step prototyping covered the testing of maps to define the size needed during the process. At this stage I discovered that the maps can be contained in the notes, but often serve as a reminder to be redesigned on a large wall, on a large sheet of paper, to help all team members to participate in the design process. Prototyping of the project took place at Tongji, thanks to the participation of a Iren student of Design of Tongji University and a Federica student of the Polytechnic of Milan. In the following pictures will show you step by step through the process of using UpKit. The last phase has not yet been implemented and includes a pilot phase in Milan during a workshop held in a class of designers at the Polytechnic of Milan. The goal will be to test the entire process of idea generation using UpKit. 182

183 Pilot protyping in Tongji Univrsity Shanghai Iren is a design student from D&I in Tongji University Federica is a service design double degree student from Polytechnic of Milan 183

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189 5.3 Feasibility of the project With regard to the feasibility of this project, I made a business model canvass to summarize key points that will allow the realization. Indeed, Through the Business Model Canvas, create the business model of a new company or redesign the business model of their business becomes a participatory process, creative and engaging. The feasibility of the UpKit project is the final phase of the thesis design because is summarizes all the research and analysis of competitors and the design phase. In the map you can look the key partners of the project, that will be first all the Universities in my specific case the Politecnico of Milan and Tongji university, second the MethodKit platform. MethodKit are one of the best company that provide a deck of tool cards for design they have a lot of deck according for different fields, for this reason I choose them such as Key partners. Fig Upkit business model canvas 189

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194 My research phase is an important part of this project and lasted more than six months. Starting from the pillars of sustainability to touch my own experiences in the field of upcycle. Already during my academic career I found myself interested in this method, as the great authors of sustainability, I foresee is a method that will help the future of our planet. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the world of upcycle and methods of generating new ideas during the design process. As for the design method after a careful analysis of the various techniques I have concluded that the decks for the design are a reliable method that allow the involvement of the work group during the design, stimulate open discussion and guide the designer to structure a linear process by setting goals. During my design process I made a questionnaire to verify the need for a tool that would help generate innovative ideas, I also have to verify personally spending my spare time through workshops and conferences in the field of upcycle. The outcome of this thesis is a tool kit, which is, composed of various elements not simply a deck of cards. Inside there are also by a series of maps that are used to synthesize the different process steps, a book with detailed explanations of each card and finally an insert that contains key information about the upcycle which has the function of generating a base knowledge, and to give some ideas for further personal study. The next steps in relation to this project will implement a pilot phase in Milan during a workshop to test the entire process and contact the key partners to verify the feasibility of Upkit. Last but not least, this project would not have been possible without the help and support from my two tutors, Weqing Yang, professor of Tongji University and Francesco Zurlo professor at Milan Polytechnic. 194

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198 1. PRODUCT SERVICE SYSTEM DESIGN APPROACH Product service systems means that the society change from a focus on producing and consuming products to a society where the service components are increasingly replacing the more traditional material intensive ways of product manifestation, that provides individuals and organizations with the possibility to fulfil needs through the provision of more dematerialized system solutions. The concept of the product-service system has its own history that reflects the development of our understanding of the production systems of our society; the society went from focusing on production systems to products. So if we want make a resume about what is PSS design we can say: a pre-designed combination of products and services in a market that can fulfil consumers needs; and a dematerialized solution to consumer needs and preferences; a result of rethinking of the product value chain and ways of delivering utility to customers that will have a smaller environmental impact than separate products and services outside the system. For consumers, product service systems mean a shift from buying products to buying services and system solutions that will minimize the environmental impacts of consumer needs and wants, and this requires a higher level of involvement and awareness. For producers and service providers, product-service systems mean a higher degree of responsibility for the product s full life cycle, the early involvement of consumers in the design of the product service system, and design of the service system for the. This utility-based consumption is finding increased application in professional markets where companies are looking less for prestige and status from the products they buy (as is the case with private customers), and more for cost effectiveness and functionality. For both consumers and producers, product-service systems 198

199 might sometimes involve a change in property rights. In general, product-service systems give more attention to the usage phase of the product s life cycle (consumer stage), than other methods of environmental policy and management, except for eco-labelling the ultimate goal of which is to provide information and advice on environmental characteristics of products. The paramount goal of product-service systems is to minimize environmental impact of consumption by: reducing consumption through alternative schemes of product use; Increasing overall resource productivity and dematerialization of product service systems. The product service system design approach is made by three basic factors. The first that the project cannot be limited to the product but must be a system that takes into account the life cycle and is concerned that the actors interact with the system. The second includes a sustainable approach to the project, but with a dual aspect. First sustainable common view that should not damaging the environment and the second in a perspective of sustainable life cycle. Third factor I identified with the keyword Future or that we should not only plan for the present, but that the present is the starting point and then the job of the designer is to imagine and design a possible future using design thinking method that is the base method. Design thinking is a formal method for practical, creative resolution of problems and creation of solutions, with the intent of an improved future result. In this regard, it is a form of solution-based or solution-focused thinking starting with a goal (a better future situation) instead of solving a specific problem. By considering both present and future conditions and parameters of the problem, alternative solutions may be explored simultaneously. Design thinking identifies and investigates with both known and ambiguous aspects of the current situation in order to discover hidden parameters and open alternative paths, which may lead to the goal. Because design thinking is iterative, intermediate solutions are also potential starting points of alternative paths, including redefining of the initial problem. All the work of my thesis started to plan the timeline about the three 199

200 App. Fig. 1 - Diagram of approach 200

201 different phase that I use to follow when I am approaching a new challenge. The image represent is dived by the months and in the right side, there are all the tools that I used during the process. 2. UPCYCLE DEFINITION Since creative processes are always better when they are collaborative, it could sound odd that it is hard for designers to collaborate in a team without a clear hierarchy, but if we consider the basic design workflow, we can notice how open collaboration doesn t happen in the same way during the whole process. Whereas the innovative upcycler would take the plastic bottles, paint each individual bottle a unique color, bolt them together in a spiral shape to construct a creative and stylist lampshade. Recycling has the focus on reusing old items or reusing the merchandise materials to create a new product. Upcycling will take an old item and make it more desirable by using a little imagination. Upcycled items often sell for a much higher value than the original cost of the reused item, whereas recycled items usually drop in value. The new boost in upcycling in wealthy countries has little to do with money and more to do with creativity and the positive environmental impact upcycling has. More than ever, we are aware of our impact on the earth. Landfills bury the rubbish we throw away as our unwanted items are replaced by new goods. These new products have to be produced using new resources taken from nature. There has been a turn in the tide and consumers want to know where our goods and products come from. We are concerned that our recent buys are not supporting the environment and we are happy to pay more for upcycled and recycled goods. Often upcycled pieces are unique, which in a flush economy increases the value and desire for the product. Some of the most mass production fashion brands start to think how upcycle could be not a unique product but a mass productive products, and so are born new collections based on this method. When discussing upcycling it s easy to think about an old bottle of beer being used as a candle holder. But upcycling can be much more extreme then this simple example. In 2011 architect David 201

202 Hertz purchased the remains of a Boeing 747 aircraft before turning it into an expensive and sought after Malibu home. Originally aero planes cost between 1-3 million, but by the time the plane is decommissioned the scrap value is only around 15,000-to- 20,000 mark, with most decommissioned planes ending in the scrap yard. In 2014 Channel 4 s Supersized Salvage TV show worked alongside Arizona s AvAir and Sycamore Aviation to complete a major upcycling project to raise money for a children s cancer charity. The challenge was to upcycle every single piece of the plane including the external shell and internal fitting; the seats, cockpit, overhead lockers and the wiring into new sellable items. Channel 4 hired three designers who came up with a range of innovative ideas from the potential scrap metal. The designers created a vast ray of items from a garden office made from the plane s fuselage to chairs and sofas fashioned from the curved edge of the plane s wings. Overhead lockers were tuned into kids toy boxes and bird s nesting boxes were made out of air ducts. The upcycling challenge sold all the pieces for a combined total of 44,000 with air duct bird boxes selling for 45-80, a rocking chair selling for 250 and a staggering 650 for an upcycled desk lamp. The profit was not the only end game as the potential land filled waste that the plane could have created was now being used and displayed in people s home, having a considerable positive impact on the environment. Upcycling is highly popular in the art world, with upcycled pieces selling for thousands of pounds. In 2013 sculptor Ichwan Noor created a perfect sphere from an old 1953 VW Beetle, which sold for an $88,000. Cateura, Paraguay is a town built on a landfill, poverty in this area is high with many families upcycling goods on a daily basis just to survive. A local innovative musician took a new approach and started to make imaginative musical instruments for children; violins from oil drums, water pipe flutes and guitars made from packing crates, before teaching them how to play these hand crafted garbage instruments. From this they created the Landfill Harmonic, who are now receiving worldwide acclaim performing in locations across the globe; Amsterdam, Argentina, USA, Canada, Palestine, Norway and Japan and London. 202

203 Upcycling requires little energy, minimal resources and has a fantastic environmental factor. Waste is often buried in landfill sites producing methane and greenhouse gases. Once buried the materials become unusable and once consumers demand a new product factories and business have to supply, which often requires collecting the resources and materials. In the home upcycling has many rewards with minimal disadvantages. But can it be achieved on an industrial level? Upcycling still requires a manufacturing process, at home it s our own two hands, a tin of paint, a saw and screw driver. In the factory the operation has to diverse from that of the individual upcycler. Energy and fuel would be involved in an industrial upcycle plant, but compared to the cost on the environment for mining the required ores it has a better environmental factor. Upcycling isn t simply re-using items, upcycling makes the old items better, more useful and of better quality with minimal impact on the environment. The increased awareness of environmental responsibility and a slow economy has led to a major increase in upcycling. The college student short on cash may upcycle their out of fashion jeans by adding a few seams and rips instead of buying a new pair all together. Homeowners are looking for ways to renovate with salvaged, and in some cases, free materials. The green mom on a budget may upcycle her old clothes into clothes for her children. This innovative spirit and environmental consciousness has led to upcycling in nearly all areas of life. From green companies to your Mother s kitchen, people are looking to save money and the planet. Upcycling does both. Upcycling is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and often beautiful, represents a truly cyclical, balanced process that all industries and companies should be aiming towards. At this point, just having the aim would be another important step. All of our products could be drastically changed if the beginning of their design started with the goal of not having them end up in a landfill. A number of ways could be utilities to train our economy into an inherent practice of reuse. This process can be repeated in perpetuity of returning materials back to a pliable, usable form without degradation to their latent value moving resources back up the supply chain. Upcycling becomes dually important. First, the practice reduces the amount of waste that we produce and ultimately goes into the ground for longer than any of us will be around. Secondly, it also reduces the 203

204 need for new virgin material to be harvested as feedstock for new generations of product. In the case of plastic, this means less oil wells drilled. For metals, less mountains mined. For paper, less trees felled. All around this means less expended energy. Two general types of upcycling: In practical terms, upcycling seems to have two subsets. The first is taking materials that today cannot be practically recycled and making them into something useful. The second is taking materials that can be recycled, but rather than breaking down the item into their base elements and building up something new, they are used in some version of their current state. A good example is a glass bottle. When you recycle that bottle, it is broken into small pieces, melted down, and recast into a new item. Upcycling that same bottle could involve cutting the top off, smoothing down the cut edge, and then using it as a drinking glass, just as it is. In both cases, waste has been diverted from the landfill, and in the second case, you have the added benefit of having applied less energy to the base materials in order to return it to something people will use. Upcycled vs. reused : If you are rescuing an old bookcase from the scrap heap, putting a new coat of paint on it, and using it again as a book case, you are not technically upcycling that bookcase because it was not made into anything new. It s awesome that that bookcase has not gone off to the landfill, but with apologies to the many people that upcycle in this way, this is a reused item, not an upcycled item. I understand the temptation to call it upcycled, since it is a trendy word and the words reused. Recycling has simply prolonged the inevitable by stretching out our waste stream and made the lifecycle costs of the material a bit less. Recycling takes consumer materials mostly plastic, paper, metal, glass, and breaks them down so their base materials can be remade into a new consumer product, often of lesser quality. When you upcycle an item, you are not breaking down the materials. You may be refashioning it like cutting a t-shirt into strips of yarn but it is still made of the same materials as when you started. In addition, the upcycled item is typically better or the same quality as the original. Some would say that upcycling must move goods 204

205 or supplies up the supply chain while recycling does not. Others would conclude that upcycling is a physical process and recycling is a chemical process. Still other definitions state that for something to be considered upcycled there must be an increase in worth or quality. Because one can find truth in all of these explanations, we use a broad definition that includes them all. Upcycling is taking an item that is no longer needed or wanted and giving it new life as something that is either useful or creative. Different from using new materials, the design of industrial waste in upcycling is very difficult, which requires designers of good ability of vision and observation and pay more attention to ecological industrial designing. And they also have to learn about the industrial background of renewable resources. Besides, the material used in upcycling is stricter and the collection system is different from the traditional one. A popular one is designer-led mode, which means the collecting, cleaning, designing and sale of material are all done by designers. However, if we just depend on individuals to do the whole thing, it can not be detailed and specific enough and large commercial activities cannot be formed, thus resources cannot be used in large scale and in a more efficient way. App. Fig. 2 - Plastic basket from 205

206 App. Fig. 3 - Plastic lampshade with water and milk bottles App. Fig. 4 - Upcycling - David Hertz purchased the remains of a Boeing 747 aircraft 206

207 App. Fig. 5 - The Recycled Orchestra is a group of young musicians from Cateura, Paraguay, Landfill Harmonic instruments 207

208 3. UPCYCLE COMPANY Patagonia, is a pioneer in this area, started its recycling program back in Since then, its Common Threads Partnership encourages people to use fewer clothes and wear them until they are worn out. It also buys back and resells Patagonia products that are still in good condition, and offers to repair clothing free or a nominal charge. Patagonia does all of this while promising to trim energy, water and toxic substances from manufacturing, reduce packaging and transportation waste and use more sustainable fibers, such as organic cotton and recycled polyester, in many of its products. Adidas recently unveiled a new running shoe prototype that the company says features an upper created entirely out of reclaimed ocean waste consisting of yarns and filaments from illegal deep-sea fishing nets. The shoe was created in conjunction with Parley for the Oceans, a group that aims to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of our oceans and collaborate on projects that can end their destruction, according to the organization s website.coca Cola create a set of taps for give to the empty bottles a second life. The questions are: Is that just an empty soda bottle? Nope, it s a squirt gun. Useless piece of trash? Nope, it s a pencil sharpener, or the perfect rattle for your baby. Make your children happy. Give them Coca-Cola, and toys made from Coca-Cola. And if you have two empty Coke bottles, you can even make a dumbbell to burn off some of the calories you gained by guzzling both. Created with the help of Ogilvy & Mather China, the campaign features a line of 16 innovative caps that can be screwed on to bottles when they re empty, transforming them into useful objects like water guns, whistles, paint brushes, bubble makers and pencil sharpeners. It s all part of a clever effort to encourage consumers in Vietnam to recycle, and a rare success at the sort of alchemy that seeks to reincarnate garbage as advertising (even if such attempts are a cornerstone of the marketing industry). Coke will give away 40,000 of these modified caps, which come in 16 different varieties, to start. The Idea was a great example of upcycle. From these examples we can understand how the big company are changing the point of view of mass production in something mor sustainable. The best examples in this category is the brand Freitag 208

209 that build all the philosophy on upcycle issue. Back in 1993, graphic designer brothers Markus and Daniel Freitag were on the lookout for a messenger bag. Zurich citizens worthy of the name travel by bicycle - velo, they call it. When it rains, they get wet. The Freitag brothers wanted a heavy-duty, functional and water-repellent bag to carry their designs. Inspired by the cheerfully colored Lorries rumbling along the cross-zurich highway just in front of their flat, they cut a messenger bag out of an old truck tarpaulin. As the carry belt, they used second-hand car seat-belt webbing, while an old bicycle inner tube provided the edging. Freitag is a Swiss App. Fig. 6 - Puma campaign PUMA bring back 209

210 company that uses recycled truck tarps to create a popular line of messenger bags; the company s brand blends a green sensibility with an ample dose of raw urban grit. True to form, then, Freitag s new flagship store in Zurich was built entirely of recycled shipping containers, stacked 26 meters (86 feet) high. Designed by Annette Spillmann and Harald Echsle in Zurich,the building is officially called the Freitag Individual Recycled Freeway Shop, which is probably even more of a mouthful in German than it is in English. So, for convenience sake, the company just calls it the F-Shop. The Freitag Shop Zurich is completely built from rusty, recycled freight-containers. Lovingly they were gutted, reinforced, piled up and secured. Zurich s first bonsai-skyscraper: Low enough not to violate the city s restriction on high-rise buildings. High enough to send shivers down anyone s spine. No word on what they mean by bonsai-skyscraper, but when we asked Google s online translation tool to render the expression in German, we got Bonsaiwolkenkratzer which really needs no further explanation. It seems Freitag also maintains a Flickr account, and the company recently posted photos of the now-completed store, captured just as the first shipment of merchandise was being loaded inside. It s no secret that Telstar Logistics harbors a deep appreciation for the history and design of shipping containers, so hats off to Freitag for the bold and clever design of their new Zurich store. 210

211 App. Fig. 7 - Coca cola taps campaign 211

212 App. Fig. 8 - Freitag process: from truck till bag 212

213 App. Fig. 9 - Freitag Zurich store 213