Innovation in design. A necessary reconsideration
- Lorin Niculae / “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, Romania
Abstract
We live a time of inventions and innovations at all levels of live and knowledge. We are closer than ever to Mars and speed of light is no longer a fronteer. However, scientifical innovations are very expensive and they leave behind the large masses of people with no means: the poor. Innovations for poor communities have to be accessible, replicable and sustainable, based on an understanding of local context, environment, micro-climate and available resources. Therefore, reconsidering the concepts of invention and innovation is necessary, not just out of solidarity with vulnerable groups, but, most of all, as a personal ecology for each of us. Technological advancement has taken our creativity, turning us into consumers. We have the solution prior to having the need, we also have the money to buy or to rent, and if not, we have innovative and advantageous credit programs. From my memory, the last time I have invented anything was in my childhood, when I didn’t have money to buy, or I wasn’t even aware of that product’s existence. It came down to using things available in or around my household. And it worked! When have you last invented something? Perhaps it is time for us to invent something again, together!