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Architecture and Design versus Consumerism
Reviewed by Sudhirendar Sharma
31 Dec 2012y designs last - be it of a refrigerator, a washing
machine, a laptop or a smart phone. Conversely, present-day designs are designed
(not to last) to propel a consumptive pattern that is conducive for economic
growth. In a world obsessed with ‘growth’, designers have been working overtime
to churn out designs that can spurn profits, expand markets, reduce costs and
increase sales. The relative cheapness of new designs entice a large population
to fit into the clinical definition of ‘compulsive shopper’, oblivious of the
fact that the lower prices do not include human and environmental costs.
Ann Thorpe, well known design strategist, provides intriguing insights to
help the world transit from consumer-driven economic growth on to the path of
sustainable consumption. Though she considers this book to be a 'work in
progress', in reality it offers a contextualized toolkit for new generation of
designers to research into the viability of ‘steady state’ economy.
'Our societal narratives about consumption need to change, argues Thorpe. Her
book is loaded with interesting design innovations aimed at cutting down
consumptive patterns in the developed world by a factor of 3-5, crucial to
attain relative climate stability. Given the challenges of unsustainable
economic growth, designers need to encounter the constraints of the real in
search for scalable but sustainable solutions to practical problems. The idea of
a ‘steady state economy’ may seem somewhat unreal but recent social activism
across the world has prompted designers to play a role in weaving the status of
well-being into experiences of daily life.
Thorpe cites working examples to prove that designers can indeed help slow
the pace of consumerism by devising goods and spaces that offer alternative
societal narratives about ownership and sharing. From barge-mountain floating
swimming pool to lunar-resonant street light and from adaptive public reuse
projects to parking-cum-temporary playground, there are range of design options
that can not only confront economic growth but can build and strengthen social
infrastructure for collective sharing and use. It is a book of the future,
surely a 'brain-opener'.
Architecture & Design versus Consumerism
by Ann Thorpe
Earthscan, UK
242 pages, $39.95
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