This would be my first ‘official’ presentation about Climate Change after participating in The Climate Project Asia Pacific Summit 2011. Let’s have an exciting evening, people! 🙂
Climate Change for Designers
3min. video made by a group of students as their end-term exam for Design & Sustainability class (December 2010), Industrial Design, Institute of Technology Bandung.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIVKu4DTj6Q]
Also a group of students’ work for their end-term exam in Design & Sustainability class (Industrial Design, Institute of Technology Bandung), December 2010.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFZPCQ8S03Y]
As their end-term exam (December 2010), the class of Design & Sustainability at Industrial Design Dept, Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), was asked to form groups, each producing a 3min. movie. This one is among my favorites.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rAVIKd6tDw]
This furniture set is a graduation project at the Industrial/Product Design Section of the Faculty of Arts and Design at Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia. The student (now designer/fresh graduate), Artha Sanjaya, has been interested in exploring bamboo in the recent years of his study at ITB. His project concerns not only the ‘new’ treatment to bamboo as a constructional material, but also how bamboo can be quickly acquired, built and used in a post-disaster condition (provided the availability of abundant bamboo groves). Artha has conducted a number of experiments in forming bamboo for construction purposes; he also contacted an Indian designer whose construction type “Truss Me” inspired him, who allowed him to develop and modify the treatments and applications.
Following are a number of slides from Artha’s materials that were presented during his project defence.
Experiments
A slide that shows the results of his experiments and a brief analysis that ends up in the choice of construction variation.
Sketches
Samples of sketches in the process of determining the forms and assembling phases of the products (a set of furniture for temporary shelters)
Final Design
Here are the variations he came up with. Below at the left handside is the basic module, which, after assembling, can be formed into shelves, a table and a low bed.
Building prototypes
In building the prototypes, Artha was assisted by a local bamboo craftsman. These photos show a bit of the process.
Manuals
Artha also included a booklet that includes a guideline in how to build the furniture.
Artha graduated with a satisfactory grade in 2010. He currently lives and works in Bandung.
Each year, since 2006, I participate regularly in 24 Hour Comics Day challenge. My stories are usually about real occurrences in my life, hence the term graphic diary is used for my drawings and publications. In 2009, I didn’t feel like drawing (this expression become the title of my story), since ecological and climate change issues and campaigns were at their peak in grabbing global attention at that moment.
Why do I bring it up now? The main reason is my participation in The Climate Project Asia Pacific Summit this weekend, to be trained with other selected ones by former US Vice President Al Gore. In order to prepare us for the event, the organizer sent us materials and questions to think about. Among other is, shortly put, what motivates me (to be active in such movement)? Pondering back to where I started, I think my 24HCD 2009 sums up almost all my answers.
Here are a few from the whole 24 pages. You are very welcome to view the complete story here: http://esduren.multiply.com/photos/album/143/24HCD09.
Office and Great Hall buildings of Outward Bound Indonesia, OBI Eco Campus, located in Jatiluhur, West Java, designed by Andry Widyowijatnoko, are currently in their finishing state. Photos courtesy of Eko Purwono, more can be seen in his Facebook photo album
This article is published by the American Bamboo Society in BAMBOO Magazine (December 2010). I received the magazine yesterday, sent by BAMBOO Magazine editor, Betty Shor.
BAMBOO Magazine, ABS, Dec 2010
My article starts at page 13 and ends at page 16. All photos in this magazine are black and white.
Page 13, where the article starts
Hybrid Methods for Bamboo Product Enterprises in Indonesia
In Indonesia, where 11% of bamboo species grows indigenously (KLH, 1998), bamboo has been used for centuries for various purposes, from construction and furniture to musical instruments and kitchen utensils. Bamboo has been carrying the stigma of being a substandard material, due to lack of its application to permanent contemporary products. However, since the emergence of global issues concerning environmental qualities and sustainability, bamboo started to gain attention as a potential material to supplement or substitute wood or other conventional materials for construction, furniture or other products.
Bamboo product manufacturing methods in Indonesia are categorized into traditional and advanced methods. The traditional methods are generally applied by Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) and home industries, which are located in rural areas. The workers are craftsmen who inherit their weaving and carving skills from their predecessors, using simple household tools (often only a single knife), producing bamboo products whose designs have existed for generations and are used for their original purposes as kitchen utensils, containers, etc. The advanced methods are commonly conducted by research/academic institutions and particular companies who have access to technology and other resources. They manufacture bamboo products using conventional machineries, or machines that are specifically designed for processing bamboo, commonly resulted in laminated boards.
These two methods, however, are not quite strategic for the development of bamboo products in Indonesia, especially if the main purpose is to change people’s perception on bamboo: no longer as a substandard material, but as a potential, durable material that fits current needs and demands. On one hand, Indonesian bamboo products manufactured with traditional methods can hardly compete with traditional bamboo products from other countries, or with mass-manufactured products made of other materials with similar functions. Moreover, the products retain their ‘traditional’ image, which limits their market to people who want them for their exoticism. On the other hand, bamboo products that are manufactured with advanced methods require substantial efforts in order to guarantee raw material supply, mass-production machineries, financial capital and other resources, which would be impracticable for the near future. Therefore, applicable, appropriate methods for bamboo product manufacture in Indonesia are necessary, here of which hybrid methods are proposed. The hybrid methods are combinations of traditional and advanced methods in three levels, as follows (Fig.1. Levels of Technology in Bamboo Product Enterprises in Indonesia):
– Modified Traditional Method, in order to create improved traditional products
– Combination of Traditional and Advanced Methods
– Adapted Advanced Method, which is adjusted to the conditions of the producer communities
All hybrid methods put an emphasis on labor-intensive industry in a modified SME, involve a considerable portion of a designer’s role in increasing product values, and aim the product to users or consumers with contemporary lifestyles.
Fig.1. Levels of Technology in Bamboo Product Enterprises
As an attempt to demonstrate the concept of hybrid technology for manufacturing bamboo products that fit current lifestyles, a number of prototypes have been produced in different occasions, using various techniques and resources. Among the first ones was a set of eating utensils made of bamboo veneer and bamboo splits, which required no weaving technique (Fig.2. Bestrek). Further design explorations resulted in another set of eating utensils that were mainly made using bamboo veneer (Fig.3. Pincuk). This set was designed along with creating a prototype of a manually, one-man operation bamboo veneer machine, considering that the manual bamboo veneering technique is gradually diminishing among current craftsmen.
Fig.2. Bestrek Set
Fig.3. Pincuk Set
More experiments using veneer and customized, precise handy work resulted in lighting facilities (table lamp and hanging lamp), produced by Apikayu Foundation, an establishment that focuses on community development through design and local natural resources (Fig.4. Apikayu). Common technique that is employed to make a certain kitchen utensil is now applied to an entirely different form that can function as a frame of a bag called Taraje (Fig.5a & 5b. Taraje). One last example is a couple of bamboo stools (Fig.6. Stoolboo) that were produced by applying the adapted advanced method. These hybrid products prove that bamboo products can have an entirely different appearances and performances compared to the existing bamboo products that are known in Indonesia. By developing the designs and the industries that produce the improved bamboo products, it is expected that bamboo could be recognized as a potential industrial material and could provide income for SME.
Fig.4. Experiments by Apikayu Foundation
Fig.5a. Taraje Bag
Fig.5b. Taraje Bag
Fig.6. StoolBoo
Dwinita Larasati
I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1972. I studied Industrial Design at the Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB) until 1997, with a graduation project on advanced treatment for bamboo as a construction material in Indonesia, with a design of a bamboo garden hut (a gazebo) to demonstrate the concept, collaborating with the Applied Physics Department of the Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI). I chose to work on bamboo material exploration for my graduation project, since I acquired a substantial amount of data and information about bamboo from the International Bamboo Congress that was held in Bali in 1995 and believed that, from the design perspectives, bamboo actually has a huge opportunity to be developed and that bamboo should be regarded as a valuable material.
In 1998 I continued my study to the Industrial Design Postgraduate Program at The Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands. I acquired my Master of Arts in Design Research with a thesis titled Uncovering the Green Gold of Indonesia, about bamboo as a competent material for industrial and constructional products, emphasizing on the application of appropriate technology. Dr. Jules Janssen acted as one of my tutors during this study. The Hybrid Methods that are proposed as an appropriate technology for Indonesian bamboo product enterprises are the main content of my thesis, of which development and examples are continuously being made up to present. In 2007 I completed my doctoral research at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, with a dissertation about sustainable housing in Indonesia, with bamboo housing as study cases. Dr. Janssen acted as a supervisor and examiner during the last half of my research. Returning to Indonesia, and back to working at ITB as a lecturer and researcher at the Industrial Design department, I proceed with my bamboo research as it is gradually getting more popular. The examples of bamboo hybrid products that are presented in the article are results of design competitions, workshops, exhibitions and research projects, which were conducted following my return to Indonesia. It is due to the hybrid technology research for Indonesian bamboo products and enterprises that I received an award as a Technology Innovator on the 15th National Technology Resurrection Day in July 2010, which focused on the theme “Strengthening the National Innovation System”.
Everywhere we shop, from street vendors and traditional marketplaces to supermarkets and department stores, it is often than not that we end up with lots of plastic bags that come with our purchase. What happens to those bags right after we throw them away? Given the garbage ‘system’ in common, dense urban areas in Indonesia which is next to non-existing’, these bags would mostly be mixed with all kinds of garbage, which are then separated from the whole dump by scavengers who collect them. The next phase for the bags is to be shredded into small pieces, before being crushed into paste and molded into plastic rods of 3mm diameter, which become the base for producing pellets.
A site that crushes plastic bags into flakes at PT. Ganesha Nusantara Plastik, Bojong Sari, Bandung
The plastic pellets are then processed into bags with inferior quality (compared to the bags that went into the shredding machine at the beginning of the ‘recycling’ process), which doesn’t add to its economic value, nor provide any positive impact to the local community. A design research was conducted at ITB to upgrade the value of the material – by using the processed plastic in its ‘wires’ state – and to provide job opportunities for local people who live around the plastic rods production site. Presented here are a number of products that the research team has come up with.
From plastic trash to industrial material for handycraft product
A variety of products made of recycled plastic rods
Indoor lamps made of recycled plastic rods
The material retains its transparency, which makes it suitable for lighting products
Detailed profiles of the products
Research team: Deny Willy, Muhammad Ihsan, Nuryanto, Krissandi, Beni Chandra, Alfian (Yayasan Apikayu), 2010
Following are slides of my presentation for TEDxBandung, October 24, 2010. You’re very welcome to leave responses and comments 🙂
I am trained as an Industrial Designer, in Indonesia and in The Netherlands. But what does it mean to be one? What do industrial designers do? What are they?
Among the first references I had about the profession is an opinion from Packard (1970), an American sociologist who criticized industrial designers as “waste makers”, since they kept designing and producing stuff with ‘limited’ durability (planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence) in order to keep the production wheels going. What happen to these products, once they are disposed of, is ending up in a landfill. Hence the term “waste makers”. 
Next to Packard, Papanek (1972) said in his book that industrial designer is the 2nd most dangerous profession in the world, due to its ability to create ‘waste’ in magnificent amount within a relatively short period. Moreover, designed products are mainly aimed at people who can afford them, while there is actually a ‘real world’, where the majority of the world population needs appropriate tools and artifacts. 
Keeping those two references in mind, I’d like to tell a bit about Industrial Design as a formal education in Indonesia. It was established in 1972 within the Faculty of Arts and Design of Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), a faculty that actually started as a school for drawing teachers under the colonial government who built ITB in 1920.
Predecessors of Indonesian industrial designers gained their knowledge from USA, Denmark, Germany, and other developed, industrial countries. Therefore our curriculum has been similar to the demand of industries in those countries, where students are prepared to face the world of mass-manufacture of industrial products. 
Therefore, what we learn include aesthetics and art histories, technical drawings and ergonomics, basic mechanics and physics; where all design projects are virtually directed to the creation of artifacts in a mass-manufacture setting. Our graduates have been working in various levels of industry, but the amount of students and fresh graduates increases over time. Can industries in Indonesia accommodate all of them? How well are they received in the professional field? 
Let’s first take a look at the majority of industry in Indonesia. What we see around here every day is a reflection of the level of industry we have in general: street vendors in a variety of fields (food and beverage, repair services, etc.) 
Manufacture industries are mostly licensed, where local/Indonesian industrial designers don’t have any significant role. 
If we want to look at figures, we can see from this pyramid that contains the levels of industry: small-scale, middle-scale and big-scale industries. The pyramid would look good if the components are balanced. 
Now let’s put in the figures for industries in Indonesia. The big-scale industries cover almost 5% while the middle-scale industries add up to not even one percent(!). The small-scale industries, which includes also the ‘informal sectors’, mounts to almost 95% of the whole industries in Indonesia.
It’s obvious that our industry pyramid is not quite proportional. The middle-scale is almost non-existent, while the small-scale is in abundance.
Our challenge now is to upgrade the small- into the middle-scale industries. How do we do that? What I’m proposing here is within my capacity as an Indonesian industrial designer. 
Here it is: Application of Hybrid Methods in Bamboo Product Industry
The first question is, Why Bamboo? It is indigenous to Indonesia, 11% of 1,500 species in the world grows all over the archipelago, placing bamboo among the most abundant natural resources in Indonesia.
Moreover, it grows rapidly and matures within 3 to 5 years. Its strength has been proven from its use as a building and construction material for centuries, next to being the main material for crafts and daily utilities. Producing bamboo products and utensils, which used to be an activity to past the time, gradually became an activity to generate an extra income once the rice fields and plantations are not able to provide sufficient income. 
Craftsmen such as these ones mainly live in rural areas, working in the traditional method for producing traditional bamboo products. The results are products we commonly see, woven and tied, for household or kitchen purposes, if not furniture and other domestic elements. 
Meanwhile, engineers and scientists have also been developing various treatments in order to achieve optimum physical qualities of bamboo material, including preservation and prefabrication. 
These two different production methods, traditional and advanced, are known in Indonesia. 
The Traditional Method produces traditional bamboo products, using raw bamboo materials and applying traditional techniques such as weaving and tying. The designs of the products remain similar to their original forms. These products are adequate to fulfill the local markets, but in competitions with global market, they would be compared to traditional products from other countries with great similarities. These products are often purchased for their ‘exotic’ images. 
The Advanced Method hardly employs traditional techniques but uses advanced tools and machinery in the production process, resulting commonly in bamboo boards. Further processes result in bamboo products based on the laminated bamboo boards and/or forming or bending of bamboo strips. The designs of products as a result from this advanced method are new. This method is suitable for places with proper bamboo propagation for industrial purposes that ensures the raw material supply, and that are able to afford, produce, operate and maintain advanced machinery. 
Both the Traditional and Advanced Methods exist in Indonesia. However, there is a gap between the two methods, mainly in the production process and the bamboo products as the result. The traditional products can hardly compete with similar products from other countries, while the advanced products are not feasible in the near future, considering the complexity of the whole system. How do we fill the gap? 
With Hybrid Method.
Hybrid Method combines Traditional and Advanced Methods, which is labor intensive, includes Research & Development phase, and results in contemporary bamboo products. It still employs traditional methods up to some extend, especially relying upon high craftsmanship, and uses simple tools and machinery in the process in order to improve the material qualities. 
Hybrid Method in general consists of three levels: modified-traditional, combination, and adaptive-advanced, depending on the proportion of methods used in the process. Here is an early mapping of bamboo products that are produced within the levels of hybrid method. It is obvious that there are a lot of opportunities for design contributions in the Hybrid Method level. Following are a few examples. 
These products are made for different events, but all aim to demonstrate the real potentials of bamboo as an industrial material for contemporary products. Shown here are eating utensils and food containers and bags with bamboo frames. All are made with traditional skills, mixed with conventional shop skills, which managed to achieve forms and functions that fulfill current needs and demands. 
There are also experiments such as forming pre-production bamboo materials (i.e. veneer, board) and their application. These products are still in their prototype states, however, demands for purchase have already been received by the design & research team. Imagine if a production unit for such bamboo products is fully operating, it might be able to generate more income and provide jobs for craftsmen, as well. 
Here is a rough estimation of the increase in the economic value of bamboo material, once it is made into a designed product. One bamboo tube of 4m worth IDR4,000. If the tube is made into winnowing trays, which worth IDR2,500 each, it can produce 10 trays (gaining, in total, IDR25,000) and provide 1,5 working days for a person. If the same tube is made into pincuk eating utensils, it worth IDR192,000, and as a bag frame the price can reach up to millions of IDR. This estimation shows how the input of design and hybrid methods of production can increase the value of the material. 
Prior to bamboo, other natural resources have also been going through research and development phase in design, in order to produce product with improved performance and appearance. Shown here are one of Magno wooden radios produced in Temanggung, Central Java, designed by Singgih S. Kartono and tableware/ kitchen products made of coconut shell and wood, designed by Adhi Nugraha. 
More examples: these products are made of wood and etched metal, designed by Adhi Nugraha and produced by Kriya Nusantara in Bandung, West Java. These products have already been produced and commercialized, and therefore are proven to be highly valued by the market. This is how bamboo products with Hybrid Methods are expected to be. 
And that is actually what “Creative Economy” is all about: combining available potentials and resources to add values to products. The keys to achieve such values that are suitable for the conditions in Indonesia are, among others, discovering and respecting local resources, applying correct material treatments and appropriate technology. These keys are expected to upgrade the small-scale industries into the middle-scale industries… 
…that will make our triangle of industry levels look more balanced. This is what we hope to see as our future in Indonesia, creating sustainable enterprises and society.
Thank you.
