Category Archives: student project

projects conducted by students with themes relevant to sustainability

Carrot and Cucumber Ice Cream

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Perhaps it’s already been existing since years ago. Perhaps it’s actually already available in many places. But I found out about it only recently, when I met a student who belongs to a group that runs the business: vegetable ice cream. These ice creams are not merely vegetable-flavored, but are made of real vegetables, mixed with soya milk and other substances that form the texture. They said it is sold in its production site in Lembang (will have to ask again where it is exactly) and at the canteen of SBM (School of Business and Management) of ITB. They just started with this business and is still attempting to make improvements. Of course, out of curiosity, I and a friend dropped by SBM ITB canteen the next day to have a taste.

left: carrot, right: cucumber-mint

It cost IDR 5000 per cup, this time with a bonus of an extra cup: the tomato variation. We took both the available variations, carrot and cucumber-mint, which turned out to be quite satisfactory. The texture was just right, not as creamy/milky as most ice cream. The cucumber taste came up to surface, with a hit of mint (not too strong), and it’s not as sweet as one would expect from an ice cream. The same went for the carrot variation: you’d still taste the carrot and the natural sweetness of a carrot instead of the sugary-milky sweetness of a common ice cream. The tomato variation wasn’t really appealing to me, since I prefer tomatoes in their natural form. The taste of the tomato ice cream resembles that of a frozen tomato juice, with its sourness and all.

Legume

I think this start-up business has a positive prospect, especially concerning the current awareness toward healthier food and the increasing tendency to live a vegetarian lifestyle. It’s also witty to leave the term “veg” for the brand, since that would commonly repel people who consciously avoid the categorizing of “green” lifestyles. Well, hope to see (taste) more variations of Légume!

Jamu Gendong, Mutu-Coet

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Still about surviving traditional artifact or habit that is actually a practice of ‘sustainability’, another groups presented jamu gendong, the traditional herbal drinks with certain medicinal purposes (jamu) that are sold by a woman who carry (gendong) the jamu bottles on foot, going around a marketplace or a neighborhood, and mutu-coet, a set of mortar-and-pestle made of stone that is still used to crush or ground food ingredients.

Jamu gendong

The group that proposed the subject of jamu gendong compared the system to food supplements or medications that are sold in conventional shops and come in packed pills. The group suggested to retain the system, since jamu gendong does not provide only herbal drinks, but also a social exchange between the seller and the customers. The conversation led to the fact that almost all local medicines are actually ‘modernized jamu‘, which are produced in a mass quantity to reach wider customers and therefore should be available in a more practical form (pills, capsules) and sold in vacuumed packages. It was also mentioned that some jamu gendong sellers are also using instant jamu (that comes in sachets) instead of fresh ingredients that they ground and mix themselves.

Jamu bottles

There’s also an issue of jamu gendong as a consumption of people from the lower class, and is only upgraded by having them in a gendong setting in restaurants and hotels, with ‘exotic’ and ‘traditional’ taglines. Seems like genuine jamu gendong is diminishing, since it is indeed rarely seen anymore in marketplaces and streets, especially in urban areas. But the need remains: both the genuine needs of people who actually consume jamu gendong for its purposes and people who don’t want to see the tradition diminishes and gone.

mutu-coet

The group that discussed mutu and coet, or pestle and mortar, stated that it’s not only the function of the set that’s irreplaceable, but also the myth that goes around it. It is believed, in Sundanese tradition, that a couple who wants to have a daughter should exchange a pestle with a mortar that belongs to a couple who wants to have a son, and vice versa. Mutu and coet are commonly made of volcanic stones and are known to be quite durable, the set is even handed down for generations. Food ingredients that are grounded with mutu and coet have different qualities in textures and taste, compared to those processed in an electric kitchen processor, and therefore are preferred in preparing (traditional) dishes. Like the jamu, it takes a certain skill to ground and mix food properly with mutu-coet, a skill that we might all lose when we stopped using them altogether.

What do they have to do with “sustainability”? Considering the issues of jamu gendong, mutu-coet and, previously, banana leaf as a food wrapper, they all come down to the matter of food and eating habit. It would lead to the discussion about fast food vs. slow food, energy-consumptive vs. labor-intensive process, time-saving vs. time-consuming, artificial vs. organic, etc. As people living in highly populated urban areas, with all those choices, we sometimes prefer to choose something fast and easy. We should be smarter in choosing what’s good not only for our body, but also for the resources they come from and the impacts they would cause.

Going Banana (Leaf)

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As an assignment, I told my students in groups to present an example of our surviving traditional artifact and/or indigenous knowledge in a daily activity, which is actually a practice of a sustainable lifestyle. Banana leaf as a food wrapper was among the presented cases.

The group took Sundanese people (dominant inhabitants of West Java) and their meal tradition as an example. The people are used to eat by gathering and sitting on the floor, using their own hands to eat and a piece of banana leaf as a ‘plate’.

Meal tradition of Sundanese people

Banana leaf as a 'plate'

The discussion include the effects of the wrapper to the food (i.e. its taste and durability), and whether the people still possess the skill to wrap in different styles and to cook those different snacks/food.

Variations of banana leaf wraps

Snacks wrapped in banana leaves

More snacks wrapped in banana leaves

'Full' meal wrapped in banana leaves

Why banana leaf?

“Why Banana Leaf?” question yields, among others, the following answers:

– The banana trees are indigenous to Indonesia and are available in abundance

– Banana production has spread to 16 provinces and 17 regents

– Banana leaf wrapper infuses a certain fragrant to the wrapped food

In the end, it comes back to the matter of practicality. On one hand, banana wrappers have their benefits as an organic, biodegradable, food-grade material that enhance the taste and fragrant of the wrapped food. Moreover, considering the varieties of styles and forms, preserving this wrapping and cooking method also means preserving our food cultures and traditions. But on the other hand, this method requires particular ways of food treatments and preparations, a skill that should be mastered through an intensive exercise (and a huge amount of patience), and therefore can be achieved only by certain people. Food wrapped in banana leaves cannot stay too long, so it cannot stay in supermarket shelves along with i.e. other precooked food (keeping it in freezer would ruin the taste and textures); a fact that reduces its point in practicality. It is now therefore available mostly in particular restaurants and/or food stalls with ‘traditional’ theme.

The discussion went on about the relevant issues of sustainability, and how (Indonesian) designers could derive the essence of this food culture, in order to create a product or service that considers the use of organic materials as containers or perhaps even to adjust our diet and eating habit into the availability of food ingredients and their processing into our meals.

Laminated Bamboo Stool

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Sadhiya Hanindita completed his study at the Industrial Design Program, FSRD ITB, in early 2011. His final project was an exploration of laminated bamboo technique, applied to furniture for children – in this case, preschool kids’ classroom stool. He collaborated with a preschool in Bandung during his research, where he could observe the students’ behaviors in the classroom, especially when interacting with their seating facilities. He focused also on the potentials of Indonesian bamboo craftsmen in rural areas in the production process, in order to make sure of the production feasibility, by actually working together with local craftsmen in producing his prototypes.

Although the bend-press and/or laminating method has been known worldwide, it is the first time it was practiced in a semi-industrial setting, with particular production concept in mind. The result was satisfactory, although improvements can be made for a number of details, such as the joints and the cushions. However, this product is expected to set off a lot more explorations in bamboo-based products for contemporary needs, yet with production processes that are suitable for Indonesian craftsmen and SME. Following are photos of the prototypes and a couple of slides from his presentation materials.

Iklan Luar Ruang dan Ekologi Visual Kota di Indonesia

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M. Syahril Iskandar

(UTS DS5025 Sm.II/2010-2011)

Maraknya Media Iklan Luar Ruang di setiap sudut kota tanpa diimbangi pelaksanaan aturan yang jelas, baik dari segi desain, dimensi, maupun peletakannya dari pemerintah membuat kota tampak semrawut (tidak tertata dengan baik). Pemandangan ini dapat ditemukan di hampir keseluruhan kota-kota besar di Indonesia. Belum lagi, kondisi ini diperburuk ketika masuk musim kampanye partai politik dan calegnya. Setiap sudut jalan dapat ditemukan baligho, reklame dan berbagai media iklan luar ruang lainnya dengan berbagai ukuran yang terpajang secara sembarang. Berikutnya, karena tidak adanya tindakan dari pemerintah untuk mencopot baligho, reklame dan media iklan luar ruang lainnya yang sudah melebihi batas akhir pemasangan,sehingga menjadi sampah yang kian memperburuk citra kota tersebut.

Kota-kota besar seperti Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, dan Jogjakarta menjadi tempat di mana reklame bermunculan tanpa mengikuti aturan yang ditetapkan. Sebagai contoh, di Surabaya reklame berukuran besar, memiliki materi iklan sebuah produk rokok yang berdiri di depan dealer mobil samping Graha SA, dari pantauan lapangan, kaki reklame berdiri di badan jalan atau di luar torotoar. Padahal sesuai Perda 8/2006 tentang Penyelenggaraan Reklame dan Pajak Reklame, dinyatakan jika reklame tidak boleh berdiri di badan jalan. Itu termuat dalam pasal 19 ayat (1) huruf h yang berbunyi, penyelenggaraan reklame di lokasi bukan persil harus memenuhi ketentuan kaki kontruksi tidak boleh berada saluran air, sungai atau badan jalan. Sedangkan reklame ini dua kaki kontruksinya berada di badan jalan.

Malioboro sebagai pusat wisata Jogjakarta, dipenuhi oleh reklame sepanjang jalan. Wisatawan asing yang tertarik pada arsitektur unik harus bersusah susah untuk melihat dari sisi terbaik dari Apotek Kimia Farma di Depan Hotel Garuda. Padahal apotek ini merupakan Bangunan Cagar Budaya (BCB) yang saat ini tertutupi oleh papan reklame.

Di Bandung data Tim Penertiban Reklame Satpol PP menunjukkan dari 21 reklame yang terpasang di jembatan penyebrangan orang (JPO), hanya satu reklame yang tidak memiliki izin yakni di Jalan Pajajaran. Dari 21 reklame tersebut dua milik pemerintah daerah (Pemda) dan 19 milik swasta, yang milik swasta 18 reklame tersebut mempunyai izin tapi sudah habis. Sedangkan satu tidak punya izin. Sementara untuk billboard, ada 56 buah yang bermasalah terletak pada titik lelang, yaitu lokasi yang belum diperbolehkan dipasang materi iklan. Wajah-wajah kota di segenap wilayah Indonesia dan ruang publiknya yang sudah semrawut didominasi aneka iklan media luar ruang (outdoor media) produk-produk konsumsi kapitalisme global. Poster, billboard, pamflet, baliho, banner, spanduk, bendera bahkan mural dan graffiti dengan beragam ukuran, desain, dan material cetaknya ditempel, dipaku, ditali, di-display, dicorat-coretkan nyaris di seluruh sudut dan penjuru ruang publik dan ruang privat kota.

Banyak faktor yang seharusnya diperhatikan dalam penataan sebuah kota. Struktur kota, ekologi perkotaan, citra visual kota, sampai pada hal-hal yang bersifat abstrak seperti karakter kota.

Sistem Ekologi Visual Kota

Sistem ekologi visual kota merupakan faktor yang sangat penting dalam menciptakan kota yang sehat dan berkelanjutan. Pertumbuhan kota yang sangat pesat seringkali membuat keseimbangan lingkungan terganggu. Kehadiran masa bangunan dan sistem jaringan jalan raya yang memenuhi lingkungan perkotaan, seringkali dilakukan dalam mengakomodasi kepentingan ekonomi dan industri belaka, sementara kepentingan lingkungan menjadi terabaikan. Dampak yang sangat jelas dirasakan adalah terjadinya banjir, polusi udara, suhu udara yang meningkat, pencemaran air, dan permasalahan lingkungan lainnya.

Kurangnya ruang-ruang terbuka yang berfungsi sebagai ruang ‘penangkap angin’ juga menjadi faktor penyebab lainnya. Seperti halnya sebuah rumah, kota memiliki sistem ventilasi udara yang sangat buruk karena ketidakseimbangan wilayah terbangun (solid) dan wilayah terbuka (void).

Dalam konteks makro, seperti yang disampaikan oleh Parmonangan Manurung, ST, dalam tulisannya berjudul Indonesia sudah mendesak menata kota secara komprehensif dijelaskan bahwa:

“….penataan elemen-elemen perkotaan sangat berpengaruh pada kondisi pergerakan angin. Penataan massa bangunan dan ruang-ruang terbuka,  perbandingan tinggi bangunan dan lebar jalan, serta penataan elemen vegetasi (urban green) memiliki peranan yang sangat penting dalam menentukan kecepatan aliran angin pada sebuah kota…”

Menempatkan reklame pada tempatnya secara baik, akan mengurangi dampak buruk dan kesemrawutan kota yang ditimbulkannya.

Melihat kondisi ekologi visual kota di Indonesia, justru kota-kota kecil, terutama yang berada di Daerah Tingkat II yang mampu menciptakan sistem ekologi visual kota yang baik. Hanya saja, perkembangan kota-kota tersebut harus senantiasa dipantau agar tidak mengulangi kesalahan yang dilakukan kota-kota besar. Dengan tetap mempertahankan sistem ekologi visual kota, bukan berarti perkembangan kota dan dunia periklanan di Indonesia terutama kota-kota besar akan menjadi terhambat. Sebuah kota tetap dapat berkembang, baik secara fisik maupun non fisik, bahkan mampu menjaga keberlangsungannya (sustainable).

Reklame dan Lingkungan

Untuk menciptakan citra visual yang baik, harus dilakukan penataan secara menyeluruh pada elemen-elemen visual kota, seperti desain bangunan yang kontekstual dengan elemen kota lainnya, furnitur jalan, elemen vegetasi, lampu jalan, bahkan sampai penataan papan-papan reklame.

Kota-kota di Indonesia seringkali belum memperhatikan pentingnya penciptaan citra visual yang baik. Papan-papan reklame bermunculan tanpa adanya aturan yang jelas, baik dari segi desain, dimensi, maupun peletakannya. Kondisi ini seringkali menyebabkan terjadinya polusi visual di lingkungan perkotaan. Wajah kota menjadi kacau dan tidak mampu menunjukkan jati diri yang sesungguhnya. Tampilan bangunan, furnitur jalan, dan media informasi hadir tanpa adanya arahan rancangan (design guidelines) yang jelas, dan yang terjadi tentu saja kualitas kota yang buruk.

Citra visual kota sangat terkait dengan terbentuknya identitas sebuah kota, sebuah jati diri yang membuat kota dikenal secara spesifik dan berbeda dengan kota-kota lainnya. Namun tentu saja, hanya citra visual yang baik yang mampu memberikan identitas yang baik pula, dan di lain sisi, citra kota yang buruk akan memberikan identitas yang buruk pada kota tersebut.

Kasus paling nyata dari chaos-nya ekologi visual yang mempengaruhi tata kelola visual kota adalah serangkaian teror visual yang dilakukan partai-partai politik beserta para calegnya (calon legislatif) saat berlangsungnya kampanye.

Dengan kreatifitas yang sangat pas-pasan dan nyaris seragam, wajah para caleg dengan pose yang gesture-nya statis membosankan lengkap dengan senyum narsisnya, mengisi bidang-bidang gambar tampilan visual media-media kampanye yang disebar-luaskan itu.

Gambar 1. Baligho dengan menggunakan paku

Gambar 2. Penempatan Baligho yang semrawut

Hampir di semua perempatan, pertigaan dan jalan-jalan strategis berisi reklame beragam foto diri calon legislatif dengan berbagai ukuran. Dari yang kecil hingga jumbo. Teror visual yang dilancarkan pada media ini memang jarang memperhatikan perspektif berbeda bahwa tindakan mereka membahayakan pengguna jalan merusak konsentrasi berkendara, membuat suasana jalan tambah ramai semrawut, merusak infrastruktur di sepanjang jalan raya bahkan merusak keindahan pohon (ironis), dan membuat suasana hati manusia bertambah runyam.

Terkait dengan pembentukan jati diri atau identitas sebuah kota, kekhasan kota yang berangkat dari kearifan lokal dapat menjadi titik tolak pembentukan ekologi visual. Dengan tetap berpihak pada nilai-nilai budaya lokal, sebuah kota akan mampu membentuk karakter yang kuat dan membedakannya dari kota-kota lain.

Penghargaan terhadap arsitektur lokal dan bangunan-bangunan lama harus diberikan, langkah ini bukan berarti menjadikan kota sebagai ‘museum hidup’, namun lebih pada suatu upaya dalam mempertahankan kekhasan kota. Pembangunan gedung-gedung baru sebaiknya berangkat dari pencarian dan pengembangan pada arsitektur lokal, serta memperhatikan secara kontekstual bangunan-bangunan lama yang masih tersisa.

Daftar Referensi

Prasetyowibowo, Bagas. 2002. Manajemen Desain. Bandung:Yayasan Delapan Sepuluh

Sachari, Agus. 1986. Desain, Gaya dan Realitas. Jakarta:CV Rajawali

Farbey, AD. 1997. How to Produce Succesful Advertising, Marketing in Action Series. Jakarta:PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Jefkins, Frank. 1997. Periklanan. Jakarta:Erlangga

Subakti, Baty. 1993. Reka Reklame: Sejarah Periklanan Indonesia 1744 – 1984. Yogyakarta:Galang Press

Sumarwan, Ujang.2002.Perilaku Konsumen:Teori dan Penerapannya dalam Pemasaran. Bogor: Penerbit Ghalia Indonesia

http://www.gong.tikar.or.id

http://www.pikiran-rakyat.com

http://dasarbali.wordpress.com

Political Trash

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These recent weeks are the beginning of a new semester, where I teach – among others – a Design & Sustainability class for Master students. As usual, after the introduction session, I ask each student to present a slide that relays his/her own understanding about design and sustainability. How design might affects the balance of our ecological,social and economic systems, both negatively and positively. One student came up with an interesting data of paper waste we created after an election period.

100 tons of paper waste

100 tons of paper waste was created within one voting period, and this was only  in Gunung Kidul (a region in Central Java) only(!). Imagine how many tons we gathered from all over the archipelago!

Burning papers

There is also a rule that every piece of paper from the voting activity should be destroyed. In this case, by burning. Imagine burning tons of papers. Imagine the amount of carbon dioxide it releases into the air. Not a pretty sight. I’m just wondering… may the destruction of this ‘voting evidence’ involve paper shredding, instead of burning? Turned into pulps and made into card boards?

And, just in case you didn’t vote in Indonesia at that time, or have never seen the actual paper: it’s huge, due to the ridiculous amount of political parties to choose from.

"Stupid Election"

This slide shows one piece of voting paper that, instead of being legally stabbed on the party of the voter’s choice, was written: “The most foolish election since the Soeharto regime”. Look at the size of the paper. Our next presidential election will be in 2014. Now is 2011 and more than 500,000 candidates are already registered. Imagine the size of the voting papers, times the number of Indonesian population who can legally vote. How many trees would be destroyed? Then the printing ink. How many more rivers would be polluted? Then the budget needed to destroy everything, afterward. And so on.

Designers, what can we do? What contributions can we make? Smaller, but still clear, voting papers? Different voting materials, different systems? There should be a smarter way to conduct an election, the one that doesn’t destruct our natural resources, nor polluting our water and air. Electronic voting comes to mind, along with its complexities and potential faults within our Indonesian contexts as well, but should be seriously considered.

Bamboo Modular Furniture for Post-Disaster Shelters

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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.