The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention

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 we provide 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 world works 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 to the 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 describe the critical 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 the rights of children. Astute yet broadly appealing, The Nature of Design combines theory, practicality, and a call to action.

Table of Contents:
I. The Problem of Ecological Design 1: Introduction: The Design of Culture and the Culture of Design 2: Human Ecology as a Problem of Ecological Design II. Pathologies and Barriers 3: Slow Knowledge 4: Speed 5: Verbicide 6: Technological Fundamentalism 7: Ideasclerosis 8: Ideasclerosis, Continued III. The Politics of Design 9: None So Blind: The Problem of Ecological Denial (with David Ehrenfeld) 10: Twine in the Baler 11: Conservation and Conservatism 12: The Politics Worthy of the Name 13: The Limits of Nature and the Educational Nature of Limits IV. Design as Pedagogy 14: Architecture and Education 15: The Architecture of Science 16: 2020: A Proposal 17: Education, Careers, and Callings 18: A Higher Order of Heroism V. Charity, Wildness, and Children 19: The Ecology of Giving and Consuming 20: The Great Wilderness Debate, Again 21: Loving Children: The Political Economy of Design Bibliography Index

About the Author :
David W. Orr is Professor and Chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College. He is the author of Ecological Literacy and Earth in Mind, as well as more than 100 published articles. Among other awards, he has received a Lyndhurst Prize Fellowship and the National Wildlife Federation's National Achievement Award.

Review :
"David Orr backs his talk with tactics and deeds that include his own actions. He convinced Oberlin College to construct a science building that 'did not impair human or ecological health somewhere else or at some later time.' That was a big order and not easily done, but he attracted and organized the multi-talented team that did it.... The chapter labeled 'Education, Careers, and Callings' is particularly fine, and presents...solid suggestions for doable changes in education that will be considered radical by many ecologically illiterate educators, but are certainly the way to go. Good stuff, easily read." --J. Baldwin, Whole Earth, Fall 2002 "The creativity of thought displayed is refreshing when compared to the hundreds of texts that criticise current practice without offering substitutes. And Orr's understanding of the role pysical surroundings play in human thinking inspires a vital alternative to the technological fundamentalism constricting so much current thought."--Ecologist