2020Taiwan Design Expo

2020 Taiwan Design Expo｜THE LOOP

Following the song of the wind, we are all part of natural circulation.

Imagine our planet at its best where ecosystems are codependent, resources are valued and treasured, and the cycle is never-ending. Our world today is filled with garbage and people consume resources in excess. The imbalance of our declining environment is spiraling out of control and humanity needs to step on the brakes, assess the problem, and offer solutions in order to mend our relationship with nature.

The circular economy has become the new paradigm for industry development around the world and circular designs can help with establishing a good system and offer ecofriendly measures to repair our environment. As humanity seeks for answer, circular designs will raise awareness for relevant issues among the masses so that we may take action.

A geometric circle is the most common circle in life, an infinite cycle from nothing to something that also speaks to the symbiotic relationship between humanity and the environment. Sounds are also circular: repeating sounds or unpleasant noises can become elements of a musical project. After all, the core of circular designs is that values lie in everything and innovation begins everywhere.

The six themes for this exhibit is City, Materials, Technology, Architecture, Consumerism, and Food Waste which reflects the development of contemporary circular designs in Taiwan. Designers raise questions for our environment but refrain from right or wrong answers because circular implies infinite. Let us help planet Earth through our industries, lifestyle, and ecosystem.

○ Key Visual Design

The three circles are regarded as a concept, which are white, gray, and black. This environment is like a continuous cycle. Therefore, the cycle process is expressed in the main vision. The three circles have a connection and directionality with each other, black to From gray to white, the black circle represents searching for problems, the gray circle represents thinking, and the white circle represents action. There is also a pink in the main vision, and pink represents people, and only when people flow in it, the cycle will appear.

○ Black Exhibit Hall - Question

Our world is impacted by drastic changes in our natural environment. The seeming safety of our environment had once belied the dangers it beheld regarding public health, pollution, growing waste, depleting resources, broken supply chains, etc. until everything came crashing down on our old systems and humanity was forced to rethink their approaches. We now hope that we may find a solution for our endangered planet through circular designs.

The Black Exhibit Hall covers six major facets of life: City, Architecture, Materials, Consumerism, Technology, and Food Waste. The goal is to observe day-to-day environmental issues through various perspectives:

Changing Cities : Migrating populations, dying businesses, aging buildings, and precarious living environments naturally welcomes social problems. Lifestyles and cultures from the days of old will also fall into oblivion.

Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect : Growing cities overpopulated with buildings come at the cost of deforestation to surrounding trees and forests, giving rise to serious UHI effects.

Ecological Imbalance : Forest plantations are being consumed faster than it can grow because of inadequate care and protection. The once healthy ecosystem will not face extinction.

Excessive Consumption : Overproduction, changing sales channels, and shorter product life cycles are resulting in growing waste.

Waste Crisis : Electronic waste is the fastest-growing toxic waste in the world. Complex packaging and disposable components make recycling even harder as electronic waste becomes a tumor to our environment.

Food Waste : According to the UN, 40% of food in the world is lost or wasted. With foods and food products wasted, change must begin with us.

Reduction measures alone are insufficient. By 2060, if existing policies and business models still remain, consumption of global resources will be double that of existing numbers, a burden that far exceeds the threshold of our planet Earth. We are living in it. We cannot ignore it.

○ The Heart of Circulation

A large cylinder is created by piling 1,100 discarded glass bottles. The installation also includes sounds of the glass recycling process: the waste glasses rolling around, the forklift removing mounds of glass waste, and machines pulverizing glass waste. The visual impressions of the vast installation and audio stimulation of the sharp sounds in a dark, suppressive surrounding express the threats and destruction brought onto an environment unprotected by the circular economy.

Circular designs could be a panacea

for our tired environment.

The next step:

How do we find our solution?

○ The Grey Hallway of Winds - Thinking

Following the Black Exhibit Hall, visitors will enter the Grey Hallway where hand-blown glass, mechanical devices, and wind chimes that serve as a symbol for nature will guide visitors along with sounds. The installation inspires thoughts and symbolizes the fact that all those coexisting with nature will all inevitably walk towards the path of a sustainable cycle.

○ The Flow of Circulation

The hand-blown glass is fitted with sensors and strung along the hallway as inspired by the ebbing tides. The sensors are able to detect when visitors are approaching and emit a chime that evokes a soft breeze. Sound is the reminder to our ecosystem and environment. It’s the never-ending cycle of nature that continues to lead us down a path of circular designs where we flow in the same direction and immerse ourselves within the fluidity of our thoughts.

The Hallway of Winds—

An Integration of Craftsmanship with Technology

○ White Exhibit Hall - Act

According to statistics issued by the WEF in 2019, despite development and growth in the circular economy industry, it currently accounts for only 9% of the global economy and still has a lot of potential. International experts estimate that ten years from now, circular economy will be the only existing economy, entirely replacing the current wasteful linear economy. The circular economy beholds an economic philosophy capable of satisfying human needs and will be able to usher in the next generation in a post-pandemic world.

Circular designs are action guides that provide effective, innovative, and aesthetic solutions for the circular economy. It offers the chance to reevaluate materials for potential uses and upgrades at every stage including manufacturing, distribution, purchase, service, recycling, and renewal. From beginning to end and to beginning again. A circular cycle is constructed to construct a more flexible world.

After an introspective journey of questions and thoughts, we come to the White Exhibit Hall with viable solutions of circular designs. Six Hsinchu locals critical to the circular economy describe how circular designs can change and upgrade a city. They walk a circular path to leave behind a legacy of good faith for Taiwan.

Visitors walk pass a pool of glass spheres that have been recycled and reused, their sense of touch then bringing them into the circular sea; their next stop is where piercing noises and environmental sounds are collected and woven into a new symphony for an auditory representation of the circular economy; and before they leave, visitors venture into an acoustic dome to listen to stories shared with them. A single takeaway could plant a seed within. Converting the five senses into action opens up infinite possibilities in transforming darkness to light and problem into action so that we may fulfil a circular cycle.

○ The Sound of Circulation

- The Circulation of Sounds

Native Hsinchu musician, Europa Huang, was asked to craft a moving symphony from the sounds of glass being recycled to serve as the auditory representation among a collection of circular designs.

- The Pool of Glass

The vibrant pool of glass is created using recycled glass bottles that are sorted by category and color, pulverized, and then deburred in high-temperature furnaces to remove the sharp edges of shattered glass and melt it into rounded marbles. The glass marbles fall into the tubes and follow the track into the pool of glass. Step into the pool of glass and allow the ripples to emanate across the pool through your sense of touch as everyone becomes a driver in creating the cycle.

- The Radio Station of Circulating Sounds

Step into the pool of glass to find a white acoustic dome and listen to Hsinchu Hakka musician, Huang Zi Xuan, hosting the Radio Station of Circulating Sounds as he shares selected excerpts from the six themes.