Jasna Hrovatin is an architect, designer, and professor at the Faculty of Design in Ljubljana, and a BIG SEE Nominator. Her distinguished career spans architecture, interior, and industrial design, earning her numerous national and international awards, eight European registered designs, seven patents, and three scientific monographs. Her work has been exhibited across Europe, from Ljubljana and Belgrade to Cologne, Copenhagen, and Frankfurt.
She explores the question “Too much? What is just enough?” by reflecting on the balance between consumption and sustainability, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful choices in design, production, and everyday life.
“Today’s challenge for designers and manufacturers is to halt the culture of consumerism and planned obsolescence.”
We live in a time when we face numerous environmental problems, and it is now more urgent than ever to focus on strategies for preserving the environment. The future—our own and that of the generations to come—depends on all of us. Designers, in particular, carry a significant social responsibility, as the direction of development largely depends on our decisions.
The global economy is built on the assumption that we should buy more, spend more, consume more, and throw away more—which is clearly not sustainable. Consumerism drives production while simultaneously destroying the planet. Every year, we discard approximately 9 million tons of furniture, which accounts for 5% of all landfill waste. Producing new items to replace the discarded ones requires natural resources and energy.
Solutions are being explored through strategies such as reuse, refurbish, remanufacture, upcycling, and recycling. Yet the most important strategy would be REFUSE—simply say no. In every area, we need to know when to say enough, when we don’t need something. In the past, furniture often accompanied a family through multiple generations. The reality is that the most sustainable product is the one that doesn’t need replacing. Products with a long lifespan reduce the consumption of raw materials, save energy, and generate less waste.
Today’s challenge for designers and manufacturers is to halt the culture of consumerism and planned obsolescence. Products should therefore be made from high-quality, renewable materials, designed to be durable and repairable, and feature a timeless aesthetic that doesn’t follow short-lived fashion trends.
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