Born Shouting

One of the very many lessons we must relearn in order to reforge Western society into a more sustainable form us to cherish the old - to see ageing as growth rather than decline. Victor Papanek puts it rather well…

Throughout most of human history materials, being organic have aged gracefully. Thatched roofs, wooden furniture, copper kettles, leather aprons, ceramic bowls, for example, would acquire small nicks, scratches, and dents, gently discolour, and acquire a thin patina as part of the natural process of oxidation. Ultimately, many would disintegrate into their organic components. Today we are taught that ageing (of products or individuals) is wrong. We wear, use, enjoy things as long as they look as if they had just been bought. But once the plastic bucket deforms (however slightly), the fake walnut tabletop melts under a cigarette, the anodising on a tumbler slips, we get rid of the offending object.

Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change, Victor Papanek