Abstract
Let’s begin with a rock cake. This baked good, studded with fruit and identified by its rusticated ‘rock-like’ exterior was promoted as an alternative teatime treat in wartime by the Ministry of Food in Britain because it included less sugar and eggs than other types of popular cakes. This paper considers how rationing methodologies can be used in a postgraduate design studio context to position creative enquiry with reference to the philosophical concept of the Public Good. This is achieved by the construction of a recipe matrix that frames the development of design iterations to foster a holistic understanding of sustainable, ethical and cultural contexts that enhance and advance creative practice. The proverb “necessity is the mother of invention” suggests good design can be achieved in even the most taxing of financial, physical and environmental circumstances. These prescribed circumstances demand we think laterally about how to make do with what is at hand, and, similarly, how we might enable others to ‘make do’ by providing alternative ways to think about what resources we use, in what quantities and to what ends. This papers examines how sustainable, ethical, and cultural contexts inform how we manage and care for resources in a time of environmental crisis to critically interrogate how we resource and sustain our engagement with and through design as individuals and as part of a collective.
Presenters
Rachel CarleySenior Lecturer, Art and Design, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Rationing, Design, Gastronomy, Pedagogy, Public Good
