Zimring Aluminum Upcycled

Sustainable Design in Historical Perspective
Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4214-2187-2
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 0 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Reihe: Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology

Tracing the benefits—and limitations—of repurposing aluminum.

Besides being the right thing to do for Mother Earth, recycling can also make money—particularly when it comes to upcycling, a zero waste practice where discarded materials are fashioned into goods of greater economic or cultural value. In Upcycling Aluminum, Carl A. Zimring explores how the metal’s abundance after World War II—coupled with the significant economic and environmental costs of smelting it from bauxite ore—led to the industrial production of valuable durable goods from salvaged aluminum.

Beginning in 1886 with the discovery of how to mass produce aluminum, the book examines the essential part the metal played in early aviation and the world wars, as well as the troubling expansion of aluminum as a material of mass disposal. Recognizing that scrap aluminum was as good as virgin material and much more affordable than newly engineered metal, designers in the postwar era used aluminum to manufacture highly prized artifacts. Zimring takes us on a tour of post-1940s design, examining the use of aluminum in cars, trucks, airplanes, furniture, and musical instruments from 1945 to 2015.

By viewing upcycling through the lens of one material, Zimring deepens our understanding of the history of recycling in industrial society. He also provides a historical perspective on contemporary sustainable design practices. Along the way, he challenges common assumptions about upcycling’s merits and adds a new dimension to recycling as a form of environmental absolution for the waste-related sins of the modern world. Raising fascinating questions of consumption, environment, and desire, Upcycling Aluminum is for anyone interested in industrial and environmental history, discard studies, engineering, product design, music history, or antiques.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zimring, Carl A.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Technische Wissenschaften Umwelttechnik | Umwelttechnologie Umwelttechnik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umwelttechnik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Introduction. Toward a History of Upcycling
Part I
1. From Scarcity to Abundance
2. Designing Waste
3. A Recyclable Resource
Part II
4. Metal in Motion
5. Covetable Aluminum Furniture
6. Guitar Sustain
Conclusion. Designing for Sustainability
Notes
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Zimring, Carl A.
Carl A. Zimring is a professor of social science and cultural studies at Pratt Institute. He is the author of Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism in the United States and Aluminum Upcycled: Sustainable Design in Historical Perspective.

Carl A. Zimring is an associate professor of sustainability studies at Pratt Institute. He is the author of Cash for Your Trash: Scrap Recycling in America and Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism in the United States.