In high school, one of my clients spent a year rebuilding a Porsche 944 with his father. It ran beautifully for a year, before a bit of wiring in the taillight sparked, burning the car to the ground. It's demise was spectacular and rather painful to watch, and the whole experience became a foundational landmark of his childhood.
In designing a peice for him, I decided to commemorate this story by incorporating a 944 piston as the primary visual element. The result is a product that starts its life with an inherent emotional attachment: my client will hold onto this object far longer than he will most others. He will keep it for a long time, and if it ever breaks, he'll get it fixed. It will far outlast his other products because he will always identify with it.
Of course, this piece is a one-off, and so the contextual tie-in isn't the only desirable attribute. But this lamp illustrates one way in which products can be made more sustainable by both recycling old materials and ensuring that they will be cherished and not thrown out.
