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Design and spirituality : creating material culture for a wisdom economy

This paper investigates spirituality in relation to design for sustainability, contextualised against modernity and the roots of design practice.

It explores the demise and nascent return of ‘spirituality’ in the economically developed nations by investigating the historical roots of modernity and postmodernity and their relationships to un-sustainable ways of living (which a number of authors, including this one, regard as a spiritual more than an environmental crisis). Perspectives on spirituality are explored in relation to changing worldviews and an original illustration is presented of the relationships between changing worldviews and their different emphases on personal, social and practical meaning. Significantly, it explores these issues in relation to our practical activities in the world and makes a clear case for the inadequacy of the contemporary worldview w.r.t. sustainability; by placing it in historical and international contexts. These considerations are then brought to bear on the creative process itself to demonstrate the fundamental relationship of these arguments to design for sustainability.

My original ‘academic’ design work emerging from this research has featured in many publications: 8 designs in Designo Industriale, Rome, 2010; 6 designs in “ETICA e DESIGN: riflessioni”, RdesignPress, Rome, 2009; 1 design in Basics Product Design 02: Material Thoughts, AVA, Lausanne, 2009; 3 designs in Design Activism, Earthscan, 2009; 3 designs in Basics Product Design 01: Ideas Searching, AVA Publishing, Lausanne, 2008. An example of the ‘real world’ influence of this research is the WWF Report: Deeper Luxury, 2008: “Fashion in design fosters creativity and the exploration of new, previously untried solutions,” notes design Professor Stuart Walker. He explains that sustainable design is neither a destination nor a fad, but a new paradigm within which fashion will move.” p.32.

Keynotes have included: European Futurists Conference, Luzern 2009; and the Technical University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, 2009.