KEY POINTS:
We all have a lot of things around us. But Alastair Fuad-Luke, a lecturer and consultant in sustainable design, seems to have a better relationship with his things than most of us. Fuad-Luke, the author of the much-feted Eco-Design Handbook, who will speak about sustainable design in Auckland this Friday, thinks about his possessions more than most.
It could be the nature of his work and life: he considers more carefully where things come from and where they go to when he's finished with them. Or it could be because, as he writes, our things are more important than one might suspect. "They [things] need us and we need them. We occupy their lives, they occupy ours."
MY 10 FAVOURITE THINGS
1. The display in my wife Dina's jewellery store. It cascades down an old adjustable wire mannequin, fixed to a very pink wall. The display changes on a regular basis but always catches my eye.
2. Wooden Ruler. I bought this in a museum in New York. Called "History by the Meter", it's a concertina ruler of 2m in length that records the events of the last 2000 years. It is a reminder of the contribution of antiquity, Christianity, Islam, and the Renaissance to our present-day world. The sobering thought is that my life occupies just 5cm. During that time the world population has quadrupled and resource use has multiplied by a factor of 10 or more.
3. Espresso cups. Original 50s cups inherited from a friend. The colours speak of that period's Soho coffee bars run by Italian emigres to London. It's stamped "Foreign" underneath, a signifier of the days of the British Empire but also a reminder that the Brits just couldn't make such seductive stuff. Good coffee, slow food, love!
4. My daughter's magic book of poems. When my daughter was at primary school she penned some poems and bound them in a little book, complete with bar code on the back! I liked the succinctness of her poems. And there are signs of some early graphic design talent that is now emerging in her professional work.
5. A 1950s Picasso-esque print. I've had this for a number of years but have never been able to trace it's origins. I'm happy to let my curiosity continue. Who, if anyone, is the woman? Who is the artist?
6. French Opinel knives. I've been a fan of these for some time and slowly added to my collection. I prefer a single-purpose knife. Opinels have brilliant hardened steel that always sharpens to a good edge. And I think it is the only company that makes a knife for cutting wild mushrooms. C'est la vie gourmandise!
7. Macabuca shoes by El Naturalista. Contemporary Spanish shoe designers are consistently producing intelligent shoes using natural materials and mixing mass production with craftsmanship. I was seduced by these; comfortable from the minute I slipped them on. They make me dance.
8. Beechwood Frame Tray, with folding legs. This shows post-WW2 design skills in light-weighting, at a time when resources were scarce. Today's mantra is Reduce, Recycle, Re-use. We should focus on Reduce.
9. Lamp base. I found this in the bottom of a box I bought at auction in Cornwall, England. Its delicate wrought-iron limbs have an optimistic joy and celebrate the female form. And the 40- or 50-year-old sentiments of the maker are still vibrant today.
10. Philippe Starck's toy chair. In orange, one of my favourite colours, it is a celebration of sophisticated plastic moulding technology, great ergonomics and a pared-down minimalist aesthetic. This wonder is solid enough to last 100 years or more and, being a mono-material object, can easily be recycled at end-of-life.
* Alastair Fuad-Luke will speak at the DINZ National Conference Day, The Business of Sustainable Design, at the Auckland Museum, on Friday, October 5, 2007. Visit www.dinz.inc.net.nz for further information and to buy tickets.
