Would you use less water if your sink eroded as you washed? One of the young designers in the group led by Daniel Charny and Roberto Feo at the Royal College of Art thinks you might. The eroding ‘soap sink’ is just one of the ideas their group, Platform 10, came up with when put to the task of designing ways for everyday people to fit water conservation into their lives. Students also designed a shower curtain that tells you when you’ve used too much water, and a garden table that collects rain to use on your plants. Daniel will reveal some of Platform 10’s other innovations, and talk about the challenges involved in creating strategic designs around topical subjects like conservation.

Daniel’s students aren’t the only ones designing user-friendly ways for people to help the planet. In fact ‘design for sustainability’ is a growing field, and Karen Blincoe is one of its top practitioners. She’ll set the scene by exploring the foundations of design for sustainability, how it’s done, and how concern for the planet not only adds complexity to a design project, but also lots of value. In fact, she believes that a rebirth in concern for the environment could lead to a design renaissance too. Join us for an inside look at the designs that will help us be greener, followed by the opening of a special exhibition of Platform 10’s work for their ‘Slow water’ project.

Karen Blincoe is a designer, educator and an environmentalist. She is currently the Director of the Schumacher College, Devon, a unique centre for studies in sustainability issues based on Ghandian teaching and learning principles. She was educated in graphic design in the UK (1982). She then established and ran a graphic design consultancy in London (1984–1992) and became Head of the Institute for Communication at the Danish Design College (1992–1998). She set up her own educational centre in Denmark ICIS (2001–2006) to teach and develop educational models for designers and architects in topics relating to sustainability, professional practice, leadership and business innovation.

Karen has held many honorary positions and is currently visiting professor at the University of Brighton, faculty of art and architecture. She lectures in sustainability, design and education around the world and is privately interested in personal development, leadership and conflict solving.

Daniel Charny is a designer, curator and tutor with a keen interest in design thinking.
Trained and based in the discipline of industrial design Charny’s interests and activities have branched to curating and teaching. He is Senior Tutor at the Royal College of Art, external examiner at Goldsmiths Design course, curator of the Aram Gallery, and a creative consultant on the subject of the future of design museums.

Charny’s design work is concerned with shifts of product perception such as the future of hearing aids or the use of new rapid prototyping technologies. His latest rapid manufacturing prototypes are currently on show at the Israel Museum design department.

Platform 10 at the Royal College of Art Design Products Course has been jointly led with designer Roberto Feo, Director of E Ultimo Grito design consultancy, for the past four years and is interested in developing design methods for exploring new types of products. ‘Slow water’ is a project investigating new ideas about the use and perception of water.