Co-curators Professor Rebekah Matheny from The Ohio State University, and Royce Epstein, A&D Design Director at Mohawk Group, will be presenting their lecture “Generation Scrap: Designing with Waste to Transform Industry and Envision a Better Future” along with Katherine Hunter, Ohio State Design alumna and interior designer at MA Design. This talk is CEU accredited by AIA and IDCEC.
Living in a world that generates more waste than it recycles, Generation Scrap explores Gen Z’s attitudes and design solutions to the global climate crisis. Through a collaboration between Ohio State’s Interior Materials course and Mohawk Group’s Product Development team, students research and identify sustainability challenges impacting their generation to develop macro design trends that are translated into speculative carpet designs. From ocean plastic to fast fashion waste and even climate refugees, topics addressed circular design with a real-world understanding to develop innovative carpet design solutions that positively impact the natural environment and the human experience. This partnership project highlights the importance of collaboration between educational institutions and industry to create designs that support the growing demands and values of Gen Z.
The learning objectives for this talk are:
- To discover Gen Z’s vision and design forecast for the future
- To explore the pedagogical approach to Gen Z’s culture of sustainability
- To examine the design collaboration between academia and industry
- To identify strategies and outcomes of mitigating waste in designing carpet
