ABSTRACT

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.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

chapter |17 pages

The Object of Nightingales

Design Values for a Meaningful Material Culture

chapter |17 pages

Design on a Darkling Plain

Transcending Utility through Questions in Form

chapter |13 pages

Contemplative Objects

Artefacts for Challenging Convention and Stimulating Change

chapter |18 pages

Design and Spirituality

Creating Material Culture for a Wisdom Economy

chapter |15 pages

The Narrow Door to Sustainability

From Practically Useful to Spiritually Useful Artefacts

chapter |19 pages

A Form of Silence

Design for Doing No-Thing

chapter |23 pages

A New Game

Function, Design and Post-Materialist Form

chapter |5 pages

Epilogue