Nick Gant and Jonathan Chapman launch their first joint project at '100% Design', London
15 Aug 2013
In a context where both politicians and environmentalists are charging the creative industry with the potential to save the future of the economy and the environment, it becomes more important than ever that forward-facing cultures of critical debate and action are nurtured; only through this, can more effective directions for future practice be both signposted and driven. Nick Gant and Jonathan Chapman (School of Architecture and Design) are endeavouring to do just that, with their recently launched sustainable design research partnership, the Inheritable Futures Laboratory (IF: Lab). As co-directors of the lab, Jonathan and Nick's vision is to engage critically with emergent issues of sustainability and design, across academic and commercial contexts.
Their first project, '100% Sustainable?', was launched at 100% Design, London (20-24 September, 2006). This new project questioned current approaches to sustainable design, which are often unhelpfully fragmented and disparate, and aimed to both deepen and enhance understanding of sustainable design, offering greater accessibility for industry, and previously detached parties. ‘100% Sustainable?’ was developed in collaboration with 100% Design, the largest industry show in the UK (who also funded the stand space) as a central feature of the 2006 London Design Festival, and consisted of three key stages – an information gathering exhibit, a seminar event and a book.
Firstly, the interactive exhibit gathered, mapped and assessed industry perceptions of sustainability in the design industry by asking partici¬pants to create an image, or vision, of sustainable design. Further information was also harvested through a short survey, that over 2000 people completed, making it a unique and unprecedented census in terms of both its scale and scope. The exhibition stand was designed by Nick and Jonathan to serve as a metaphor for their working partnership; both are passionate environmentalists, but have come from very different backgrounds. Jonathan was a tree-hugging eco-activist type, whereas Nick came at it from what might typically be considered the opposite end of the spectrum, having worked within industry for companies like ICI, Dupont and Lucite International. The two conceptually opposing spaces aimed to reflect this convergence. Visitors to the stand were asked to choose the space (or polling booth) that they though was more sustainable, draw their vision of sustainable design and then attach it to the stand’s skeleton to create a forest – a ‘gallery of thought’ – that mediated the range of perceptions that circulate the design world today.
A seminar event ran alongside the exhibit, to further catalyse this essential debate, and featured contributions from some of the most challenging and provocative thinkers in the field including Ezio Manzini, Alastair Fuad-Luke, Edwin Datschefski and John Wood. Attendance to this seminar was overwhelming; every seat in the venue was taken, aisles were filled and the blinds had to be raised so that crowds outside could watch through the windows. Jonathan and Nick are currently developing and disseminating the results from both the exhibition and symposium into a book (featuring chapters from the seminar speakers, and a foreword by John Thackara) published by Earthscan, the worlds leading publisher of books on sustainability; this book will be launched at 100% Sustainable? 2007.
