Designing Sustainability

What is the relationship between design, sustainability, inner values and spirituality? How can we create designs that provide a convincing alternative to unsustainable interpretations of progress, growth, consumerism and commercialism? Building on the arguments first advanced in his widely acclaimed books Sustainable by Design and The Spirit of Design, Stuart Walker explains how we can achieve the systemic changes needed to address the challenges of sustainability. Challenging common assumptions about the nature of our contemporary material culture and its relationship to human flourishing, the author introduces approaches to design that draw inspiration from nature, summon the human imagination and create outcomes which are environmentally responsible and socially just, as well as meaningful and enriching at a personal level. Offering a unique and original contribution to this vital debate, Designing Sustainability is destined to become essential reading for students on courses in design and sustainability and for design practitioners looking for a deeper, more meaningful basis for their work.

Stuart Walker is Professor of Design for Sustainability at Lancaster University and Emeritus Professor, University of Calgary, Canada. He is the author of many award-winning publications and his propositional designs have been exhibited at the Design Museum, London, across Canada and in Europe.

Acknowledgements; Acronyms and Abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. The Object of Nightingales; 3. Design on a Darkling Plain; 4. Contemplative Objects; 5. Design and Spirituality; 6. The Narrow Door to Sustainability; 7. A Form of Silence; 8. A New Game; 9. Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index.