Generation Scrap: Forecasting for Sustainability
Today we live in a world that creates more waste than it does reduce, reuse, or recycle. In reaction, designers in all disciplines are trying to address this through the exploration of new materials and production processes, creating a new design language and landscape that moves beyond industry or craft. These efforts towards a more sustainable future strongly resonate with the values of younger generations. If the Oxford dictionary defines “Pop Culture” as “modern popular culture aimed particularly at younger people”, one might define this current moment in society amongst Millennials and GenZ, that of grappling with society’s mass amount of waste with the desire to reduce the ecological footprint, as “Scrap Culture”. Embracing this mindset, one might refer to this generation as Generation Scrap. This video presents the CoLab project with Mohawk Group in the introductory Interior Finish Materials course at Ohio State’s Department of Design. Generation Scrap looks at design trend forecasting through the lens of GenZ to address sustainability and global waste mitigation culminating in speculative carpet designs.
Presenters:
Rebekah Matheny, Associate Professor and Project Lead
Katherine Hunter, 2019 1st place winner
Serena Schwallie, 2019 2nd place winner