Creative passion meets green ideals

Barbara Black

Design, as it is taught at Concordia, is steeped in the principles of social and ecological sustainability. Full-time professor P.K. Langshaw explained that this means more than using and reusing mere things. It has a deeply social dimension that strives to achieve ecological integrity, social equity and economic prosperity. Or more concretely, it asks what we can do to constructively situate ourselves, our imprint, in harmony with our natural and built environments.

For example, students taught by lecturer Israel Dupuis leave the classroom behind to conduct sessions in computer-aided design for youth at risk. One course helps participants earn credits for a high school run by Dans la Rue, while the other is conducted with the Youth Empowerment Project in Little Burgundy.

Dupuis’s design students are not only helping young people who may have had trouble with school in the past, they are learning to teach and advance their own design skills. Some go on to teaching as a career.

Other students take a course in ecology and 3D Design led by Martin Racine that culminates in a student competition at SIDIM, the annual interior design show in Montreal. Ecological products made from recycled material designed for disassembly and new materials used from local industry are part of the considerations in the design process.

Langshaw traces her evolving passion for sustainability close to home and from her upbringing; like many of her generation, her father suffered through the Great Depression. She remembers him as an avid gardener who composted and was a model environmentalist of the “four Rs” — rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle.

An important disciplinary mentor for Langshaw is pioneer architect and designer William McDonough, who models human industry on natural processes.

“McDonough celebrates new design production and consumer consumption, but demands that products are created for ‘cradle-to-cradle’ cycles whose materials are perpetually circulated,” Langshaw explained. “Maintaining materials in closed loops maximizes material value without damaging ecosystems.”

Langshaw teaches in a collaborative environment that puts these ideals into action. For example, her students designed the sustainability gala held Feb. 23. One group made the awards, one created the digital presentation, and another group created the promotional print materials. Even the design of the serviettes, made from agritex composting fabric, was an educational exercise in sustainability and reuse.

The professor’s face glows when she talks about how far her students have travelled.

“I just talked to a former student in Colombia who is photographing and designing a book on Amazonian culture and crafts. I’m in touch with others in countries in Europe, the Middle East, and South America. One is teaching at La Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia.”

Some are teachers, others exhibit in galleries, some have eco furniture companies. One of her graduate students has just completed an architectural ceramic installation for the entrance to a new hotel in Dubai. Another has just completed a PhD in Communication Studies in AIDS-related research.

As part of her own practice, Langshaw recycles seasonal articles of clothing already steeped with meaning. Some of these redesigned garments she keeps; others she gives away, but not before documenting them. Recent Concordia Aid to Scholarly Activities funding will allow her to build a website for this collection.