Download - Sustainable Family Heritage (Report)
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF FAMILY HERITAGE
CHEN DI (11550119G) LARISSA RENA MANSURA (11526120G)
SD5520 CONCEPT WORKSHOP – SUSTAINABILITY AND DIGITAL MATERIALITY
COURSE LEADER: ELI BLEVIS, PHD.
MDES INTERACTION DESIGN
SCHOOL OF DESIGN
THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
2011/2012
[1]
PREDISPOSITIONS
For a couple of hundred thousand years most people’s stories were an oral history, passed down for a generation or two and then forgotten. A few lucky people escaped this information black hole with a thumbnail entry in an encyclopedia. But encyclopedia imposes a standard of notability that few people can meet. It doesn’t consider everybody’s story, not for your story, my story, not for each family’s story, because those have been considered as the story "not important enough" or “notable” to be included.
But the truth is everybody’s stories belong to the history and they can and should be recorded. Thanks to the development of technology and the boom of digitized lifestyle, now everyone’s story can be written into history by using a variety of different ‘digitized’ ways. Each of our individual story is being recorded in exponentially richer detail.
Speaking of human history recording, as well as our own family history. Family story or history can be viewed as one kind of precious heritage that needs and should find a specific way to sustain and be passed down to our descendants. That being said, history is only history if it lasts—which begs the question whether the heritage from each our family history can be considered as a potential opportunity that will continue as we bring more of our history and memory into today’s modern world.
Think about “Who do you think you are?”. Are you curious about “Will our future generations look back and not know what life was like before them?” These helped the vast majority of us get started in our genealogy and explore the sustainability of our family heritage that still last in the modern life.
We’ve been thinking about if human memory , here is our family heritage is going to find a way to maintain sustainability through a wrenching transformation way, the current period is crucial in how we could found an outlet elsewhere that bring the past history into the present.
[2]
RESEARCH
LITERATURE STUDY
The online survey found that more people than ever are interested in learning about their family history but today they (on average) know even less about their genealogy. 80% of respondents were very interested or interested in learning more about their family history (up from 78% in 2007). On the other hand only 40% were able to name more than one great‐grandparent (in 2007 50% were able to). Survey shows family history knowledge declining despite growing interest.
Wikipedia contains entries for just over half a million individuals from history, suggesting that just one in 100,000 people from history has been lucky enough to be remembered. Even including the blogs, Facebook pages and Myspace profiles left behind by those who have passed, less than 0.1% of people in history are remembered today.
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In contrast, the 7 billion people alive today are much more likely to live on in the history books. Over 1 in 10 people alive has a Facebook page and on top of that there are services like LinkedIn, RenRen and others that capture even more people. The best way to estimate the overall number of people using social media today is to take the 2.1 billion of us with Internet access and multiply by the 70% who in surveys say they use some form of social media. That suggests 1.4 billion social media users, which is one in five people alive today.
We examined how much information different generations have online versus offline. As a proxy, we commissioned a survey to see how many physical and digital photos individuals have. Taking the median response in each age group, we calculated the "percentage of our history which is digital." The results are striking—a teenager today is 86% digital, whereas a 65‐year‐old is only 12% digital.
Reference: 1000 memories (http://1000memories.com)
[4]
STORY COLLECTION
We conducted interviews with several people, asking about any possession that they would consider as family heritage.
Respondent Family Heritage Remark Victor 25, French
18th century city stamp, books, and painting from grandfather
“I learned about my grandpa’s way of thinking through the books he read.”
Gracia 24, Indonesian
Necklace from grandmother “How I’m gonna treat the heritage depends on my grandma’s will.”
Fara 24, Indonesian
Ring from grandmother She wears it all the time along with her wedding ring.
Janny 25, Norwegian
Grandfather’s calligraphy painting
“I wish I could show my grandpa how I proudly display his painting at my house before he passed away.”
Harald 32, Norwegian
Vase and trunk from grandmother
He has difficulty storing the trunk as it’s too big for his apartment space.
Andini 24, Indonesian
Purse from grandmother “My grandma gave it to my mom ‘cause she thought she would like it more than her other children, and my mom did the same way to me.”
Bilawa 24, Indonesian
Traditional weapons and musical instruments from grandparents
“My family passed on antiques according to the capability of taking care of them.”
Woody 29, Chinese
Stamp collection from father “I sold it when I was a teenager, I didn’t realize its value yet.”
Emily 23, Chinese
Bowl from great grandmother “I didn’t really know my great grandma, but she gave me a bowl.”
Nicole 23, Chinese
Birth necklace and bracelet “Every newborn in my family gets a necklace and bracelet. We still keep them as part of our life even when we’ve grown up.”
Bindy 23, Chinese
Pictures and knick‐knacks in a shoebox
“It can be funny for my next generation to see these memorabilia of my childhood.”
Otty 54, Indonesian
Batik and jewelleries from mother
“Wearing these remind me of my late mother.”
Soeparwoto 55, Indonesian
Farming land from parents “The farming land is far from where I live, it’s hard to manage it. My family considers selling it.”
Listya 24, Indonesian
Plushie from fiancé and wrist‐watch from mother
“These are the things that I treasure and I’ll pass on to my next generation.”
Nurul 26, Indonesian
Medical center from grandfather
“The medical center doesn’t always return profit, but our family manages to keep it running, in honor of our grandpa.”
Cindy’s parents Chinese
Chin dinasty treasures from parents
“These treasures value much more than the money we can get out of them”
Cindy 23, Chinese
Birth coin and piggy bank “I want to pass these valuable stuff to my next generation”
[5]
Some respondents were able to share pictures of their family heritage.
[6]
[7]
INSIGHTS
Heritage items can serve as a media for intergeneration dialogue and symbol of family identity. Things considered as heritage items may include:
1. Objects of high economic or social values 2. Memorabilia of important life events
We also discovered several issues that revolve in the process of inheritance, from the side of the previous generation as well as the next generation’s.
Concerns of the previous generation: 1. How can I pass on my values and identity through the heritage items? 2. Will the next generation love the heritage items as much as I do? 3. Will the heritage items be preserved well, long after me?
Concerns of the next generation: 1. How can I fully understand the values and identity of the previous generation through
the heritage items? 2. What can I do if the heritage items do not suit my personal taste? 3. How can I keep the heritage items safely, even if I can’t afford the space and cost? 4. Will I be able to pass on the values and identity through the same heritage items to my
next generation?
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[8]
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[9]
2. COLLABORATIVE UPCYCLING
While it is true that heritage items are very much loved by the generation who owns it the firsthand, it may not suit the needs and interest of the next generation. The next generation may have ideas to modify the heritage items into something that they can use better, but they’re unsure whether it would contradict the previous generation’s will.
[10]
We propose a platform where both generations can collaborate in upcycling the heritage items into a new form that is more preferred by the receiver while still holding the essential values of the giver.
3. JOINED PHYSICAL MUSEUM
As more and more people move from one place to another, the existence of bulky or even immobile heritage items may be a burden for them. The lifestyle also changes, that it’s no longer practical for them to take care of the heritage items. In the other hand, people still wish to keep the heritage items the way they are, as tangible proof of history.
Our idea is to have a physical museum where anyone can submit their family heritage items that are related to a common theme, such as a city. In a small scope, a family heritage belongs to a family. Once combined with other items from other families, they form a bigger picture of heritage that belongs to the society. We got the inspiration of a joined physical museum from The Museum of Broken Relationships (http://brokenships.com). It turns out that learning about other people’s personal objects can be an enlightening experience.