The teaching of sustainable design has undergone significant change over the last 30 years. In the 1960s and 1970s, pioneering minds like Victor Papanek, Jane Jacobs and R. Buckminster Fuller wrote about sustainability from a societal perspective. This was followed by a plethora of books and TV shows that highlighted repurposing objects and materials – often retrieved from dumpsters – as a form of sustainable design. By the 1990s, design departments in Anglo-European universities were teaching sustainability by having students refashion waste and reclaimed objects into new forms. The outcomes rarely had any discernible impact and often looked like recycled trash. Much of it was, at best, what McDonough and Braungart refer to as “down-cycling” – stopping off as something else on its way to landfill (2003, p.59).
Shifts in Sustainable Design Education
Today, many sustainable design programs exist within schools of architecture, focusing on building adaptation and reuse. After all, many buildings long outlive the purpose for which they were built (Hollis, 2009. p.9). Other sustainable design programs around the world have a focus on “transformation” and societal shift, often aligned with the UN’s 17 sustainability goals encompassing zero hunger, quality education and clean water.
While science is vital in giving us a grasp of the facts, the climate crisis is every bit a cultural crisis. Those of us in the arts and humanities have an equally vital role to play. Sustainability is interdisciplinary, period.
The MFA in Design for Sustainability at CCS
This is the ethos of the MFA degree in Design for Sustainability at College for Creative Studies. Artists and designers have transformative powers in shaping culture, and can effect important change in the climate crisis. The program welcomes those from other disciplines, too – earth scientists, engineers, technologists, accountants, and philosophers – who all bring important insights to the class. The curriculum foregrounds a design mindset, utilizing visualized thinking and creative tool kits to explore three key areas:
- Zero-waste materials and circular systems
- Sustainable cities and civic infrastructure
- Environmental stewardship
Students approach these through systems intervention and strategic narratives.
Complex Challenges in Sustainability
The challenges within sustainability and the climate crisis are incredibly complex, made up of a myriad of wicked problems within convoluted systems. Often, one well-intended intervention can lead to further problems. For example, plastic bag bans can advance reuse, but often lead to an extreme excess of heavier reusable bags. Waste diversion strategies require an interrogation of the entire system.
In the case of soda cans, the process begins with the extraction of bauxite ore from the ground, through the shipping, processing, shipping again, fabrication, sale, consumption, and its eventual return to the production cycle. This includes looking at ancillary processes like applying ink to the outside of the can, lining the inside with a film of acrylic or polyester, crating the cans, wrapping them in polythene, displaying in shops, not to mention the complexities of manufacturing sugary effervescent drinks that fill them.
The key is making the linear circular and reducing the amount of materials and energy used along the way, but it also begs the question: in what other ways could we quench our thirst?
Detroit as a Living Laboratory
For hands-on experience, Detroit is the perfect place to learn about sustainability, with powerful initiatives from both the ground up and the top down. There are many grassroots organizations and NGOs addressing food waste, urban farming, composting, clothing, building reuse and material salvage, climate justice, clean drinking water, clean rivers, green ways, green spaces, and energy reduction, to name a few.
The City of Detroit has a robust sustainability office and is in the process of finalizing its waste diversion strategy. The State of Michigan has proactive measures for ambitious sustainability goals, which it showcases annually at the Michigan Healthy Climate conference. CCS has an incredible community and industry network with whom we partner for experiential learning.
The program is transformational for its students and those with whom they work.
Learn More
If you are interested in learning more about our MFA in Design for Sustainability, please contact grad_admissions@ccsdetroit.edu
Dr. Ian Lambert
Professor and Dean of Graduate Studies
Program Chair, Design for Sustainability
References
Hollis, E. (2009) The Secret Lives of Buildings, London: Portobello Books
McDonough, W. and Braungart, M. (2003) Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, New York: Northpoint Press.
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