We have a Big Idea that we are working on here at Birth of Venus Studios and it is going to be driving our design for some time to come, I believe. I want to begin by telling you how I stumbled on this line of thought and hopefully bring you along with us on the journey that we are beginning.
Some years ago I read an article about government attempts to create a warning sign for a nuclear waste repository in Nevada at Yucca Mountain. There was some justifiable concern that at some point in the far off, 10,000 year future, whomever happened to still be here on Earth might encounter this place and suffer harm. So there was a gathering of the people who had worked on the Pioneer spacecraft and had already put some thought into universal language communications. They wanted to come up with a symbol in order to warn the above mentioned whomevers that serious danger was lurking below. Fair enough.
Recently, I was recently reading
Cradle to Cradle, a fantastic book that for every designer is a must read. The writers began to relate this same story in the text and I thought I knew where they were going with it. Their ending was a bit different, however. They described a participant in the discussion about communicating with the future as having a different point of view. He was a Native American, and said, "Don't worry about it. We don't need a sign. We will tell them." The authors point out that this person has something that most of us lack. That something is sense of ownership and belonging in this world along with a plan to be in it for some time to come. At least 10,000 years.
Then, on TV I saw a commercial. There was an ad encouraging the passage of legislation favorable to natural gas production through the Congress of the United States. The ad said, "We have enough clean, natural gas to power the USA independently for the next 100 years."
This guy, on the other hand, figures that 100 years is enough, even though that 100 years of natural gas will probably not be replaced in the next 100,000 years. "We have it, let's use it up!", he seemed to say.
One more story. I was fortunate enough to visit the beautiful Northern Scotland 10 years ago. On that trip we visited to the Highland Park Distillery on Orkney Island where they have been making Scotch Whiskey for a quite a while. On the tour, it was explained that the distinctive smokey taste comes from the barley that is heated with smoke from burning peat. It was further explained that there was enough peat to last for 300 years. Even then I saw the problem. I assume now that they must be telling people that they have enough peat to last for 290 years. Trouble is, it takes peat 10,000 years to form.
In other words, are we going to be good landlords or the other kind? Will we take care of the property in a way that keeps it attractive, comfortable and rent producing for the future? Or will we squeeeeeze everything possible out the Earth before demolishing it or having the grandchildren do some repairs? How is having 100 years of natural gas or 290 years of peat useful if we have the perspective of needing a place to live, work and create for far longer than that? The first 100 years will be great, and then, even if we are cold, presumably we can at least stay drunk for 190 more. It is the last 9,710 years that are going to really suck.
So what IS the Birth of Venus Big Idea? We plan to fundamentally alter the focus of our company. We have always voiced concern about the environment. For instance, "We are really worried about the environment and it keeps us awake at night." Beginning today, we are going to, imperfectly I am sure, actually do something besides toss and turn and grunt out concerned utterances. We are going to design our our modern fountain and furniture products based in the assumption that we belong here on this Earth and that in 10,000 years we will still be here and are going to need resources to do stuff with.
While this idea is in permanent development we have some beginning principles that we will live by. Our initial focus will be non-obsolescence through extreme durability and timeless design, fair employment practices, a low transportation footprint, concern and action with regard for the environmental impact of our products. A products impact is not just the manufacturing process but throughout the life cycle of our products and giving back to the community that supports us. We will strive to achieve these goals at a median, affordable price point. As an example, here is a description of the materials, processes and goals embodied in one of our new chairs.
Originally designed and engineered for a brutal environment, the shopping mall food court, our stylish and durable SOHO chair will withstand many years of use in almost any environment. The chair's credentials are:
1) North American made (Canada) for fair employment practices and a lower transportation footprint.
2) Thick walled, high strength, cold hardened drawn steel tubing for long life.
3) TGIC free powder coats for improved outdoor air quality, worker safety and a non-toxic end-of-life.
4) FSC certified veneers for prevention of forest depletion.
5) Plastic laminates made from recycled paper for forest preservation.
6) Water based glues for non-toxicity and improved indoor and outdoor air quality.
7) We will accept returns of our furniture for refurbishment or proper recycling when no longer needed.
8) We will neutralize the carbon footprint of the entire life cycle of our products from manufacture to final recycling. We will do this by purchasing credits from the 23 year proven
Las Gaviotas Offset Project to recreate sufficient full canopied, poly-cultured rainforest to absorb the emissions from our products.
This blog will be the place to check in so that I can keep you posted about all the things that we are doing to make our products better and how our thinking about design with the future in mind is developing. Please stay tuned.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=a4fa2c33-66d4-468a-bf8f-0beb33ad47da)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=3f2b3c91-0387-4b41-bc38-01d631335d1e)
