From ego to eco : system design for planning according to nature

Abstract

How today does design relate to nature — endless source or necessary condition in which conform to? In the second half of twentieth century, this point animated the international debate with critical reflections about a production system that was already considered hypertrophied and not really geared to the needs of humanity. Papanek, for example, stated — “Creating whole new species of permanent garbage to clutter up the landscape, and by choosing materials and processes that pollute the air we breathe, designers have become a dangerous breed” (1971). After all, the exceeding of The Limits of Growth was evident in 1972, when the Club of Rome stated that the exponential growth of world’s population, the food production, the development of industry, the exploitation of resources and the resulting pollution would have compromised human well-being and threatened our very survival. In this perspective, the most advanced research in the field of design has taken an increasingly environmentally friendly approach (Environmental sustainability). Some methods and areas that are more interesting today, such as Service Design or Design Thinking, have highlighted the need to put the person at the center of the project, not only the user who uses something but the human being in its entirety. From here, the focus of design tends to become the whole of Humanity, in a progression that goes from the ego to the echo. Design is increasingly life-centered, and therefore systemic, drawing inspiration from nature and the way it works.