PAPER. CRAFT AND INDUSTRY. SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE

ABSTRACT

When thinking about sustainable design, social sustainability appears to be a fundamental feature that must be considered when shaping people and communities. This broad subject is narrowly approached within the present article following one specific viewpoint; social sustainability can be defined in the design process by analyzing materials’ potential in crafts` and industries` activities alike. Paper`s potential on both these levels, in developing, through its production process, small scale communities and larger ones alike, is further revealed. In a preliminary phase we observe that craft is a subject in which both design (at different scales) and aspects of social sustainability interfere. This second particular aspect of crafts leads us to the cultural potential and value of activities regenerating, maintaining and further developing communities. Artisans, artists, different producers are involved, emphasizing paper’s cultural value. Further environmental benefices, through its recycling and re–imagining products, complete the economic and social benefices. The study method of this theoretical analysis is based on study cases and discussions from heterogeneous areas - traditional crafted examples or contemporary designers` examples, with a particular interest in the Romanian landscape. The conclusions of this analysis reveal us features of social sustainability approached from a very particular way of reading this subject, the material`s (namely paper) state in crafted and industrial expressions, in the contemporary framework of design.

Keywords: paper, social sustainability, traditional crafts, industrial processing, cultural heritage