I
wrote this essay as an assessment to evaluate my 'english academic
wrting skills'. I tried to keep a good paragraph coherence and clear
subject for each one. I know it is a long essay (about 2000 words)
but I really appreciate if some one could give me some advises to
improve or correct it. Thank a lot in advance. It is as it follows:
First
of all we need to understand what is design and what is a designer.
Or at least frame a historical ground to better understand in which
point of evolution it is, as well its mission and its focus. It is
also essential that we realize its role in contemporary societies and
its concerns, worries and ethical values. Most of all it is
imperative that we recognize the needs of our globalized world today
and identify strategies to avoid the predicted dark future scenarios.
We need to build a better world in the twenty-first century. We need
a super hero Who can help us? Who can save the Earth?
The
words "design" and "designer" are a relatively
recent creation. They result, as it is known, of the enlargement and
increase of complexity of the artistic world creation as a
consequence of the Industrial Revolution. That revolution, in matter,
created the identification of a new territory of tasks and functions,
closer to industry, and demanding the investigation of new matters
and techniques, the rehearsal in new ways more and more in teamwork.
In
nowadays, understand the mission of design demands that we identify
its target. The concept of object, in the occidental world, is a
consequence of the Industrial Revolution. Since than, what is
considered product, commodity, would assume at its functionality,
goal, meaning and also in its own value, the status of object,
assuming itself definitely as sign. The perception of the outlines
and codes of the global trends is exponentiated by the unquestionable
importance of globalized economy where the actual praxis of design is
framed. In this context we should understand the world as the
object-limit of design once its projective nature aims act, not only
on the object, considered individually, but mostly on the world.
Design
is a basic question in the contemporary culture because of its
expansive as well its imperative character. This fact brings with it
internal diffidences in the relation of design with other cultural
practical domains and fidgets regarding its nature and specificity to
the domain of design and its operators.
We
should start from the assumption that we are in an age of “total
design”. The recognition of the increasingly expansive character of
design is, in general, identified with an enhancement of almost all
the things to a social and cultural discursively. But, “total
design ” is, inversely, the process for which the productions and
accomplishments of the culture tend to present themselves as affected
for almost an inevitability and immediateness, proper of the nature.
The age of “design total” is, therefore, the age where everything
or almost everything is seem to be the result of a natural history,
being at the same time, however, entirely intentioned, entirely
conceived and entirely designed. That is, the culture, in its state
of “total design” is the culture in the age of the deletion of
the border between natural and artificial, the moment where, what it
is entirely intentioned for the man, it is tend to present itself as
purely natural.
The
designers, also artists and no mere problem solution providers
through the creation of objects strictly appropriate to the requested
functions, are gaining increasing importance as coordinator of the
problem solving process as innovation and new technologies become
more significant in the design process. The ethical function is today
considered by the most conscious designers as part of the totality of
the aspects of utilitarian order to safeguard, once the design is
understood as project activity for the man in the world, for the
values in him framed, social, biological, psychological, ergonomic,
cultural, and aesthetic, among others. The increasing complexities
and demands for multi-disciplinary teamwork in the product
development process demand a more holistic approach, which is one of
the modern industrial designers’ greatest attributes.”
To
realize the ethical impact of designers, we must identify what
effects they are capable to introduce in our lives. To identify these
possible effects it is essential to understand what designers
actually do. This is not easy because design is a multi faceted
activity that includes a wide range of different approaches and
methods. Where others may use linear methods, designers use a more
fluent non-categorical approach. Design can be understood as an
effective mode of management once it solve problems, but in a rather
special way. While scientists and technologist focus on the physical
aspects of social metabolisms, with the aim of avoiding environmental
catastrophes, other social actors, including designers, should focus
on supporting a transition towards a more sustainable system,
avoiding major social (and therefore cultural, political and
economical) catastrophes (Manzini 2000).
According
to some studies sustainability in a long term future is only possible
if resource consumption on the planet is reduced by 10 times, meaning
that the production and consumption system needs to become ten times
more efficient in the use of resources. Technological
development does not seem to be sufficient to produce such a dramatic
efficiency improvement. Such a change calls for new development
models, involving substantial social and cultural changes. The design
strategies framed in this perspective should refer to new scenarios,
outlining new ways of living and new cultural and social models. For
this reason the debate on design for sustainability should be based
on a higher awareness of social and cultural processes, rather than
on a pure technology driven logic.
Unlimited
growth on our limited earth is not possible. The report “The Limits
to Growth” to the Club of Rome in 1972 concluded that “If
the present growth trends in world population, industrialization,
pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue
unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached
sometime within the next one hundred years. The most probable result
will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population
and industrial capacity.” The crude
oil price will be in 2020 five times more expensive then it is now,
as its reserves will decrease to became insignificant in 2050.
Typical for the leaving trend of material mass consumption was a
careless treatment of the global resources. Especially those areas
depending on petrol are facing increasing problems. We are forced to
look for new and sustainable concepts to avoid a upcoming
catastrophic development. Sustainability can be achieved
through simultaneous and equal application of ecologic, economic and
social aims.
The
British movement Arts and Crafts paved the way for the Deutscher
Werkbund (1907-1935) and later the Bauhaus (1919-1933) to ensure that
successful industries realised the value of embedding artistic
endeavour alongside technological progress into their mass produced
products. Since 200 years ago design has been successfully converting
financial, technical, human and natural capital into materialised,
and more recently de-materialised, products and services for the
‘consumer’ and ‘knowledge’ economies. Design is the key agent
of change, but especially in its more recent years, has been an agent
of acceleration. Designers has been the great enabler of the
exponential speed of change that has occurred in man’s desire and
ability to create new economic models which affect the practical
fabric and philosophy of everyday human life.
From
the green consumerism, which briefly surfaced in the late 1980s in
Europe and the USA, emerged an ongoing debate on Design for
Sustainability. DfS has evolved from earlier debates on ‘green’
design, ‘eco-design’ and sustainable design’. Despite
differences of opinion there is universal agreement that DfS is
concerned with addressing the role of design in moving towards more
sustainable development. The trinity of sustainable development is
economic viability, environmental responsibility and social
responsibility, the EES model, or as it is often mentioned 'the
triple bottom line'.
Economy
is a constraint to DfS in the EES model. If designers continue a
‘business as usual approach’ they will continue to serve
interests which control the economic model. In short, designers will
continue as enablers of industry, the adjective ‘designer’ will
be synonymous with ‘stylist’. On the one hand, examination of
statements from a cross section of the design community, albeit
entirely from the ‘developed’ world, gives cause for celebration
once one in five of the interviewed designers recognised the DfS
debate. On the other hand, DfS appears to have failed to cement
itself into the vision of most of the world’s leading and emergent
designers, as most designers, even including those with DfS issues,
seemed to place themselves entirely within the system of the
‘consumer’ and ‘knowledge’ economy models.
Designers
have shown consistent concern for design which improves our lives,
but to date most of their energy has been applied to oiling the
wheels of various economic models. Most designers frequently voice
frustration over their focus constraints, directed to economies,
markets, consumers. To create new focus for design it is essential
to, initially, remove the constraint of the economic marketplace
which tends to dominate the model. Then, inspired by Victor Papanek
and Ezio Manzini, it is necessary to create several focus which
centre on the ethical concept of ‘well-being’: environmental
well-being, sociocultural well-being and the well-being of
individuals. The new design model will not only “save the world”
but also “save designers”.
The
new design model can search much wider for its definitions of
wellbeing, while the economic marketplace equates the concept of
individual well-being with material acquisition. The new design model
can represent the voices of all stakeholders, while the conversation
about environmental and socio-cultural well-being in the economic
marketplace is largely couched the financial stakeholders. The
message of a design which balances individual, socio-economic and
environmental well-being will be different from the current
commercial interests which, used to foster the idea of the creation
of identity through consumption, is exploited to meet the desires of
ownership and status.
The
new design model for the twenty-first century fits the title of 'slow
design'. It is 'slow' because this model is free from the time
constraint of the economic matter, avoiding to compete within the
technological progress field, branding and commercial globalisation,
taking design beyond the needs of the marketplace. Its role is to
balance the well-being between socio-cultural, individual and
environment dimensions. Instead of celebrating the smallest, biggest,
fastest, it celebrates the de commodification of time, balancing
booth Earth and anthropocentric needs.
The
septics will argue that it is not possible to remove economic
constraints from this model. But slow design is about minimising
negative impacts on the environment and society while optimising
performance and well-being. The satisfaction of human needs is
achieve through economic interests gather around products, services
and buildings. New products and buildings in the spirit of slow
design are already becoming commercial reality (table 2). Therefore,
it have a lot to do with competitiveness, hence focused out of
economic constraints.
Designers
have now the opportunity to undress the suit label of stylists and
enablers of commercial gain. Slow design restores the debate on the
role of design in the twenty-first century to secure a better present
and a more sustainable future, even though it focus on the 'present
continuous' rather than on the future. Its success lays down on its
relevance to the wellbeing of humanity and the global environment.
Slow
design and the age of total design provide the necessary ground to
designers experience real freedom. It improves our lives as well our
societies and cultures simultaneous, and contributes to restore the
health of our environment while it begins the process of regenerating
humankind and the planet. Designers have now the opportunity to dress
the suit of super hero and lead the changing to a better world.