Title: Sustainable product design through wind-air themes: a case study of concepts of the Japan Design Foundation

Authors: Edilson Shindi Ueda

Addresses: Sustainable Design Laboratory, Design Research Institute (DRI), Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University (National), 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 263-8522, Japan

Abstract: This paper reviews the concepts focusing on the wind-air theme by the Japan Design Foundation in response to the lack of academic research from the perspective of industrial designers on natural resources of wind-air. The designers' perceptions of the wind-air theme are studied from social, cultural, and environmental perspectives. We review and summarise a possible way to use the natural resource of wind-air as well as man-made wind-air phenomena to achieve a sustainable design. According to the results, the design with cultural dimension of wind-air was characterised as design fields to investigate the environment sound produced by natural wind, the social dimension was characterised by a design concept that concerned safe design fields, and the environmental dimension were characterised as a new method of energy production using wind power. The research's significant findings lead to a recommended idea mapping of the wind-air theme, and its effectiveness was illustrated through a case study entitled 'Windballon - energy production system'.

Keywords: wind; air; natural resources; sustainability; ecodesign strategies; design concepts; product design; industrial design; social; cultural; environmental; Windtree; Windballon; Japan Design Foundation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSDES.2021.122143

International Journal of Sustainable Design, 2021 Vol.4 No.2, pp.119 - 155

Published online: 08 Apr 2022 *

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