Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources in a given year exceeds what earth can generate in that year. In 2019, Earth Overshoot Day landed on July 29, meaning that for the next five months that year, we had to borrow the earth’s future resources to operate our economies in the present. Ultimately human activity will be brought in balance with earth’s resources, whether we choose to achieve it by disaster or design. So, as we come face to face with the ecological imbalance and disaster unfolding before us, the question is: how do we overturn adversity with design?

We are stripping the earth of its natural resources at a rate much faster than earth can generate. Earth Overshoot Day comes earlier and earlier every year. So how should we move the date by design rather than by disaster? 2020 Circular Design Exhibition revolves around six themes: food, fashion/textile, housing/objects, electronics/appliances, plastics/packaging and cities, using intuitive graphics to reveal the cost we have paid for the comforts we have enjoyed and the innovations certain sectors have created through design. The exhibition designed a framework for a future living model in the next decade to show visitors just how circular design can shape a brand new lifestyle.

From picking up food that would otherwise be dumped and turning it into a dish that is a visual and gustatory feast, designing circular garments that can be worn 46 days in a row without smelling, 100% recyclable and reusable glass straws to PaperLab, a system powered by Dry Fiber Technology that turns used paper into new paper, 2020 Circular Design Exhibition features 40 circular design pieces from 32 companies across the globe to show visitors how design works and how it can bring new life into a world that is constantly changing. Unlike other exhibitions, this exhibition uses recyclable, renewable and reusable materials; for example, the display shelves and tables are made from textile waste and the stand is made from renewable mesh fabric instead of foam board. The ultimate goal of a circular economy is to design out waste and make zero waste a reality.

 

2020 Circular Design Exhibition: Disaster or Design

- Date: 2020.02.22-2020.06.14

- Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunder 09:30-17:30

- Venue: Taiwan Design Pavilion Area 05 (SongYanCourt, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park)

- Organized by: Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs

- Executed by: Taiwan Design Research Institute

- Curated by: REnato lab

- Designed by: Studio Shikai

- Graphics by: Re-lab