Eco-design, product sustainability, and sustainable design are recurring themes at the large sector exhibitions. the approach to design changes: the referent is no longer the individual user but the whole planet.
Compared to a few years ago. Consumer’s attention to the environment has grown significantly. In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development introduced the concept of sustainable development, which means “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Since then, sustainability has involved in different sectors and fought numerous challenges, evolving into concrete actions that generated an impact on the environment. We became aware that not all the resources around us are unlimited. It is necessary to adopt a more “altruistic” attitude towards those who will inhabit the planet after us, by making conscious choices.
THE REQUIREMENTS OF A SUSTAINABLE DESIGN PRODUCT
Moreover, attention extends beyond the product’s lifetime, ensuring its renewal, recycling, and dismantling. Therefore, sustainable design products must meet specific characteristics:
- Made with sustainable raw materials, extracted, and processed responsibly. The goal is to maintain a balance within the system that allows resources to reintegrate.
- Ensure respect for universal human rights for workers.
- Packaging should be minimal and recyclable.
- Have a short production chain.
- Have a long life and be recyclable.
RESTORATION AND UPCYCLING
Sustainability is a challenge that requires time and resources. We must understand its importance and use it to support and restore the bond between man and the environment.
In the world of interior design, there is an emerging trend of recovering furniture using different methods. This is accomplished through renovations, which give a new life to the furniture, and through upcycling, which involves creating a new high-quality product using recycled materials.
From the words of Vittorio Gregotti in “Periphery of Waste” from 1965: “Nothing is created, nothing is destroyed; however, everything accumulates, waiting to be transformed.”
THE SUSTAINABLE DESIGN OF WINETAGE
Winetage’s philosophy embraces the concept of sustainability, making it not the endpoint but the starting point towards creating unique design pieces that will live long in our homes, thanks to upcycling. The precious wood of the barrels is reused, without compromising its integrity, to create exclusive works.
What was once considered waste to be discarded, now becomes a precious raw material to be respected and enhanced. In Luxia lamp, for example, the wooden staves are the main element in creating a sculptural work that encloses and diffuses light.
In Luxia, the value of the past preserved in the wood of the staves merges with modern technology.
The lamp is equipped with UL LED lights to offer maximum lighting comfort and respect for the environment, ensuring over 60,000 hours of operation and up to 85% more efficient than average
lights.
