C hapter 3 the Design Context
42
active consideration of a new product or cause an interested developer to think twice before proceeding. There can be user resistance
from sources that should have perhaps been anticipated but
perhaps were not (e.g., environmental health hazards in using new
materials) or come from sources that simply could not have been
easily anticipated a priori. The list can go on and on.
In thinking about how we might use nanomaterials in design, it is
useful to step back considerably and not define the issue simply as
a technology-transfer problem—a self-limiting approach—but
rather to think about it first in more fundamental terms. What is
the role of materials in design? How do material properties influence the shape or form of objects and environments? What are we
trying to do when we are using a specific material? On what basis
do we compare nanomaterials to other high-performance materials? Do we really expect new products to be made of just nanomaterials, or if not, what specific role do we expect them to play?
In what kind of product or building system might they be best
used? What can we hope to accomplish?
The first of these questions is by no means new. Questions surrounding the way an artifact or environment has been conceived,
how it was made, and the materials of which it has been made
have been a particular preoccupation of designers, engineers, and
builders for ages. An understanding of the potential benefits and
Figure 3.1
The Kurakuen house in Nishinomya City, Japan,
designed by Akira Sakamoto Architect and
Associates, uses a photocatalytic self-cleaning
paint—one of the many architectural products
based on nanomaterials. (Courtesy of Japan
Architect.)
42
active consideration of a new product or cause an interested developer to think twice before proceeding. There can be user resistance
from sources that should have perhaps been anticipated but
perhaps were not (e.g., environmental health hazards in using new
materials) or come from sources that simply could not have been
easily anticipated a priori. The list can go on and on.
In thinking about how we might use nanomaterials in design, it is
useful to step back considerably and not define the issue simply as
a technology-transfer problem—a self-limiting approach—but
rather to think about it first in more fundamental terms. What is
the role of materials in design? How do material properties influence the shape or form of objects and environments? What are we
trying to do when we are using a specific material? On what basis
do we compare nanomaterials to other high-performance materials? Do we really expect new products to be made of just nanomaterials, or if not, what specific role do we expect them to play?
In what kind of product or building system might they be best
used? What can we hope to accomplish?
The first of these questions is by no means new. Questions surrounding the way an artifact or environment has been conceived,
how it was made, and the materials of which it has been made
have been a particular preoccupation of designers, engineers, and
builders for ages. An understanding of the potential benefits and
Figure 3.1
The Kurakuen house in Nishinomya City, Japan,
designed by Akira Sakamoto Architect and
Associates, uses a photocatalytic self-cleaning
paint—one of the many architectural products
based on nanomaterials. (Courtesy of Japan
Architect.)