The nature of design: ecology, culture, and human intention

David W. Orr9780195148558, 019514855X.9780198033882

The environmental movement has often been accused of being overly negative – trying to stop “progress. The Nature of Design, on the other hand, is about starting things, specifically an ecological design revolution that changes how weprovide food, shelter, energy, materials, and livelihood,and how we deal with waste. Ecological design is an emerging field that aims to recalibrate what humans do in the world according to how the worldworks as a biophysical system. Design in this sense is a large concept having to do as much with politics and ethics as with buildings and technology. The book begins by describing the scope of design, comparing it tothe Enlightenment of the 18th century. Subsequent chapters describe barriers to a design revolution inherent in our misuse of language, the clockspeed of technological society, and shortsighted politics. Orr goes on to describethecritical role educational institutions might play in fostering design intelligence and what he calls “a higher order of heroism. Appropriately, the book ends on themes of charity, wilderness, and therights of children. Astute yet broadly appealing, The Nature of Design combines theory, practicality, and a call to action.

---

Table of contents :
EEn
……Page 1
Cover
……Page 2
Copyright Info
……Page 6
Acknowledgments
……Page 9
TOC
……Page 11
I – The Problem of Ecological Design
……Page 13
1 – Introduction: The Design of Culture and the Culture of Design
……Page 15
The Problem of Human Ecology
……Page 25
The Default Setting
……Page 28
Ecological Design
……Page 32
The Intention to Design
……Page 36
Ecological Design Principles
……Page 39
Conclusion
……Page 42
II – Pathologies and Barriers
……Page 45
3 – Slow Knowledge
……Page 47
Conclusion
……Page 54
Water
……Page 55
Money
……Page 57
Information
……Page 59
Synthesis
……Page 60
Upshot
……Page 62
5 – Verbicide
……Page 65
6 – Technological Fundamentalism
……Page 73
7 – Ideasclerosis
……Page 80
8 – Ideasclerosis, Continued
……Page 87
III – The Politics of Design
……Page 95
9 – None So Blind: The Problem of Ecological Denial
……Page 97
10 – Twine in the Baler
……Page 103
11 – Conservation and Conservatism
……Page 109
12 – A Politics Worthy of the Name
……Page 116
13 – The Limits of Nature and the Educational Nature of Limits
……Page 130
IV – Design as Pedagogy
……Page 137
14 – Architecture and Education
……Page 139
15 – The Architecture of Science
……Page 147
16 – 2020: A Proposal
……Page 155
17 – Education, Careers, and Callings
……Page 164
A Modest Proposal
……Page 168
Mentors
……Page 169
Summary
……Page 170
18 – A Higher Order of Heroism
……Page 172
V – Charity, Wildness, and Children
……Page 181
19 – The Ecology of Giving and Consuming
……Page 183
20 – The Great Wilderness Debate, Again
……Page 199
21 – Loving Children: The Political Economy of Design
……Page 210
Environmental Contaminants
……Page 211
Nutrition and Exercise
……Page 212
Information
……Page 213
Technology
……Page 214
Ecology/Climate
……Page 215
Political Economy
……Page 217
A Child-Centered World
……Page 223
Conclusion
……Page 231
Bibliography
……Page 233
Index
……Page 244