Description
Book SynopsisThe Green ImperativeFirst published at the end of the twentieth century, this book offered a plethora of honest advice, clear examples, and withering critiques, laying out the flaws of and opportunities for the design world at that time. A quarter of a century on, Papanek?s lucid prose has lost none of its verve, and the problems he highlights have only become more urgent, giving today?s reader both a fascinating historical perspective on the issues at hand and a blueprint for how they might be solved.
Trade Review'Important and timely … a valuable resource for those trying to steer an ethically and ecologically informed path through the world of contemporary professional design practice' - Neil Maycroft, Associate Professor at the Lincoln School of Design
'The lessons sustainable design pioneer Papanek imparts are as relevant in 2021 as they ever have been' - Design Week
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Power of Design
1. HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW?
Our damaged planet • The historical view • The acceleration of disaster • Healing on a human scale • Is time on our side?
2. DESIGNING FOR A SAFER FUTURE
Production and pollution • Product assessment • Packaging and shrouding • The problem with plastics • Millions of tyres • Green Design • Profit and politics • Design in the 21st century
3. TOWARD THE SPIRITUAL IN DESIGN
The function of beauty • The designer’s intent • Design for Disassembly • Exploiting every scrap • People participation • Designer as entrepreneur • Evaluating new technologies • Design ethics • Transforming the assignment
4. SENSING A DWELLING
Mood and environment • The dimension of light • Footfalls • Feeling the fabric • The sense of smell • Responses to space • Sounds and rhythms • Organic geometry • The collective unconscious • Benign architecture
5. THE BIOTECHNOLOGY OF COMMUNITIES
Finding the centre once more • People not traffic • The aesthetics of site • The sense of location • Nature’s magic numbers • Ideal community size
6. THE LESSONS OF VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Too humble for history • Six fallacies about vernacular architecture • Process not Product • Six explanations • The dynamic web
7. FORM FOLLOWS FUN
Designing for the moment • The fun object • Fashions in form • ‘Anti-design’ • Toy or tool • The meaning of objects
8. IS CONVENIENCE THE ENEMY?
Longing and dissatisfaction • Ten ‘convenience’ traps • Design as signifier • Chair as design gesture • Fashion and cuteness
9. SHARING NOT BUYING
The consumer triangle • The quality of life • Ten questions before buying • Three further questions • Possible answers
10. GENERATIONS TO COME
Drawing from different disciplines • The search for good form • Design education for all • World information network • The quality of learning • Creative problem-solving
11. THE BEST DESIGNERS IN THE WORLD?
The edge of survival • Inuit design skills • Space concepts • Thinking in three dimensions • Art is life • Learning from the Inuit
12. THE NEW AESTHETIC: MAKING THE FUTURE WORK
