Slow Design’ – a Paradigm Shift in Design Philosophy?

‘slow design’ – a paradigm shift in design philosophy? Alastair Fuad-Luke 2 Fairview Place Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 2BH, UK Tel: +44 (0)1326 210130 [email protected] ABSTRACT production, commenced some 200 years ago. Seventy five This paper discusses the economic models which drive years ago the ‘consumer economy’ emerged as the design, the role of the designers, the existing design production of things reached mass markets and individuals paradigm and its legacy. New paradigms are sought in could create lifestyles by packaging together these ready- education and design practice. Design professionals were made things. The mid-1970s saw the emergence of the challenged over thirty years ago with a new paradigm called ‘knowledge economy’. On the cusp of the new millennium ‘Design for Need’. Yet little has changed and, despite the Murray suggests that we are in a transition zone to the development of a new models to consider the full gamut of ‘human economy’ which harnesses the technology of the human needs, many designers still favour solutions which Internet to break the monopoly of communication held by celebrate their, often, egocentric visions rather sustainable governments and commerce. It gives individuals an ability solutions. Design hovers in an ideological vacuum and to form ‘amoeba-like’ groups and communicate at will. designers wear the mantle of stylists to the powerful. So it is Finally, Murray sees the emergence of the ‘intelligence opportune to examine a new design paradigm, ‘slow economy’ where real and virtual worlds merge, where the design’. Slow design celebrates the culture of largo; slow boundaries between natural and artificial intelligence are design is beautiful; slow design is about well-being; slow blurred. design is sustainable; slow design is durable; slow design is pluralistic. Slow design offers fresh, innovative and Murray’s concept of progression of economies is creative opportunities for designers. fascinating although a more realistic picture today is a world Keywords of concurrent economies where ‘industrial’, ‘consumer’, Design, Design for Sustainability (DfS), Well-being, Human ‘knowledge’ economies have a varied physical presence needs, Slow Design within each nation state. Latest estimates indicate that 655 million, just over 10% of the world’s population, are internet users [2]. This indicates that the ‘knowledge’ economy is DESIGNERS AS AGENTS OF CHANGE not equally distributed. Nor are ‘industrial’ and ‘consumer’ Inter-generational debate around the globe would re-affirm a economies equally, or equably, distributed. universally accepted observation that our (human) world is speeding up. The finger is often pointed at technology but a more robust examination of cause and effect would point What, might you say, has Murray’s ‘seven ages of man’ to to humankind’s ability to create new economic models do with the current design paradigm? Design, and the which have lead to the progressive commodification of time. professional design community, has been the great enabler. After all, ‘time is money’, or time is the basis for economics. For the last 200 years design has been successfully This latter re-interpretation is most eloquently demonstrated converting financial, technical, human and natural capital by Murray’s ‘seven ages of man’ (Table 1) where an almost into materialised, and more recently de-materialised, exponential speed of change has occurred in man’s desire products and services. The 19th century British Arts and and ability to create new economic models which affect the Crafts movement paved the way for the Deutscher practical fabric and philosophy of everyday human life [1]. Werkbund (1907-1935) and later the Bauhaus (1919-1933) to The ‘industrial economy’, creating the means of mass ensure that successful industries realised the value of embedding artistic endeavour alongside technological Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are progress into their mass produced products. The Bauhaus not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies mantra, which combined art, science and technology, bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or remains the Holy Grail of much contemporary industrial republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires specific permission and/or a fee. product design and architecture, although marketing and “development by design” (dyd02), Bangalore © Copyright 2002 Alastair the media delivers the image and the message. Design Fuad-Luke and ThinkCycle continues to enable the development of products and services for the ‘consumer’ and ‘knowledge’ economies. ‘eco-design’ and sustainable design’ [5,6]. DfS, like any Design is the key agent of change or as Manzini puts it, robust debate, has a healthy divergence of opinion as to ‘Design in all its history, but especially in its more recent exactly what it is and where it is going with a divergence of years, has been an agent of acceleration’ [3]. viewpoints to be found in academia[7,8,9,10,11], commerce [12],the public sector [13] and NGOs [14,15]. Despite differences of opinion there is universal agreement that DfS An educationalist, Alain Findeli, sees the current design is concerned with addressing the role of design in moving paradigm as being characterised by three central pillars – its towards more sustainable development, Brundtland’s obsession with materialism, a predominantly positivistic definition being most commonly cited [16]. The trinity of method of enquiry based upon problem: solution, and an sustainable development is economic viability, agnostic, dualistic world view [4]. Findeli sees design as environmental responsibility and social responsibility, or, in reactive; that is reactive to the needs of the latest economic commercial language, the ‘triple bottom line’ and in models, to the needs of commerce, to the marketplace (Table academic language, the EES model. In a design context 2). He argues that design must become proactive and that Charter [17] also includes an ethical dimension to create the design should embrace a new framework inspired by 3ES model. Such models provide a useful framework for systems science, complexity theory and practical creating checklists for thinking about the problems but few philosophy. The Bauhaus model is rejected in favour of a designers and even fewer manufacturers would think of model based on perception (visual intelligence), action (a their products as conforming to such models. Rather technological act is a moral act) and aesthetics (an aesthetic designers and manufacturers are much more focused on logic not a deductive logic, encouraging a reflective their immediate needs and the perceived needs of their relationship between perception and action). Such a customers. This is borne out by the realisation, and paradigm shift would involve transformation of one’s vision visualisation, of products which are trying to embrace DfS of the world and would involve all aspects of one’s being: [18,19]. Such products remain very much in the minority in intellect, imagination, sensitivity and will. But is this a the marketplace, although big businesses, especially those design paradigm which will produce a vision of a signed up to the importance of the sustainability agenda sustainable twenty-first century? Will it engage the [20,12] see sustainable products as a new marketplace – a professional design community? new economic model? So far, so good. DfS is being taken seriously by commercial interests and governments and Findeli’s arguments are directed at the debate on design designers will, as before, faithfully respond to the needs of education but it will take a generation or two for emerging this market and do its bidding. design graduates to shift the existing design paradigm. The legacy of the existing design paradigm, design in collusion But what of designers? How do designers perceive DfS? with government and commercial interests endorsed by What is their role in the debate? Examination of statements billions of consumers, is alarming. The design community from a cross-section of the design community, albeit has, largely, satiated its creative instincts within the entirely from the ‘developed’ world, simultaneously gives boundaries of economic models, it has, largely, ignored its cause for celebration and concern [21]. Celebration because responsibilities to a world beyond economics. Designers, the DfS debate is recognised - one in five of the interviewed as the conductors of symphonies of materials realised as designers’ statements had some grounding in a broad bag material objects, are determining key issues for current and of sustainability issues, although the word sustainable future generations concerning resource usage (renewable hardly featured. Concern because most designers, even and finite), the use of hazardous/toxic substances, and including those with DfS issues, seemed to place speed of resource flow (including the planned obsolescence themselves entirely within the system of the ‘consumer’ and of products). The net result of designers’ role in the ‘knowledge’ economy models. DfS appears to have failed ‘consumer’ economy over the last 50 years is a salutary to cement itself into the vision of most of the world’s reminder of the huge responsibilities designers face (Table leading and emergent designers. 3). The wake up call for designers is the challenge, and huge

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