Politics, the political and design
Politics is an institutionalised activity which is supposed to be based upon contestation between political ideologies. But in this age of hegemonic capitalism… Read more…
Socially focused design in Haiti
Most Haitians live short, brutal lives. Inhabitants of this small Caribbean island nation can expect to live about 50 years mainly without adequate housing, electrical power, running water, basic sanitation or heath care… Read more…
Unspeaking the metropolis
Urban unspeak seems to package its solutions with yes/no or good/bad ease. The unspeak – the thought that stops thinking – justifies ever more expenditure on the inner city, and concentration or uneven distribution of resources… Read more…
Frances Whitehead interviewed by Anne-Marie Willis
In this first of a series of interviews on redirective practice, we talk to people who are actively working against the current condition of unsustainability, and in so doing, changing the nature of their own practices. Frances Whitehead discusses projects that blur the boundaries between conceptual art, design, planning and architecture, including her multi-faceted, sustainably designed studio and dwelling created from the bones of a former Chicago industrial building… Read more…
What is sustainable graphic design?
Current negative environmental and social issues are forcing designers to acknowledge the flaws in their creative process and consequently rethink design for planned obsolescence… Read more…
Response to Eric Benson’s sustainable graphic design
Designers who uncritically heed Benson’s call for a ‘sustainable design revolution’ could soon find themselves operating paradoxically—designing sustainable things that nonetheless promote (the) unsustainable material and immaterial infrastructures, systems of thought, or habits of mind… Read more…
Chicago roof greenhouse - see Whitehead interview
Design for the other 90%
Rural farmers in developing countries, are clients with very little cash, but clients who are nonetheless willing to pay for innovative design if it is affordable and can improve their quality of life… Read more…
Humanitarian architecture: building change?
Architecture for Humanity is well-meaning, but too self-congratulatory, assured and lacking in caution. It sorely needs a mechanism for reflection… Read more…
Digital life identity crisis: tales of security and sustainability
Not only are existing identity systems unusable for people who need to manage hundreds of digital locks and keys, they create excessive amounts of digital waste… Read more…
Journal madness
How many academic design journals writers does it take to change a mind?… Read more…