Slow design
Encyclopedia
Slow Design is a branch of the Slow Movement
, which began with the concept of Slow Food
, a term coined in contrast to fast food. As with every branch of the Slow Movement, the overarching goal of Slow Design is to promote well being for individuals, society, and the natural environment. Slow Design seeks a holistic approach to designing that takes into consideration a wide range of material and social factors as well as the short and long term impacts of the design.
field. The term was probably first coined by Alistair Fuad-Luke in his 2002 paper "'Slow Design' - a paradigm for living sustainably?", in which Slow Design is seen as the next step in the development of sustainable design
, balancing individual, socio-cultural, and environmental needs.
While Fuad-Luke focused on the design of physical products, the concept can be applied to the design non-material things such as experiences, processes, services, and organizations. In fact, Slow Design may be seen as a path toward the dematerialization
required for long-term sustainability as it takes into account the non-material nature of human well being and happiness
.
Beth Meredith and Eric Storm summarize the concept, stating:
Slow design is still a relatively new concept of design thinking, and its implications are yet to be fully developed and defined. It could evolve in the following ways:
Slow Movement
The Slow Movement advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life's pace. It began with Carlo Petrini's protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome in 1986 that sparked the creation of the Slow Food organization...
, which began with the concept of Slow Food
Slow Food
Slow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of...
, a term coined in contrast to fast food. As with every branch of the Slow Movement, the overarching goal of Slow Design is to promote well being for individuals, society, and the natural environment. Slow Design seeks a holistic approach to designing that takes into consideration a wide range of material and social factors as well as the short and long term impacts of the design.
Origin and meaning
Slow Design refers to the goals and approach of the designer, rather than the object of the design. In this way a Slow Design approach can be used within any designDesign
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
field. The term was probably first coined by Alistair Fuad-Luke in his 2002 paper "'Slow Design' - a paradigm for living sustainably?", in which Slow Design is seen as the next step in the development of sustainable design
Sustainable design
Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability.-Intentions:The intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental...
, balancing individual, socio-cultural, and environmental needs.
While Fuad-Luke focused on the design of physical products, the concept can be applied to the design non-material things such as experiences, processes, services, and organizations. In fact, Slow Design may be seen as a path toward the dematerialization
Dematerialization
-Dematerialization in economics:In economics, dematerialization refers to the absolute or relative reduction in the quantity of materials required to serve economic functions in society. In common terms, dematerialization means doing more with less...
required for long-term sustainability as it takes into account the non-material nature of human well being and happiness
Happiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
.
Beth Meredith and Eric Storm summarize the concept, stating:
Slow Design is a democratic and holistic design approach for creating appropriately tailored solutions for the long-term well being of people and the planet. To this end, Slow Design seeks out positive synergies between the elements in a system, celebrates diversity and regionalism, and cultivates meaningful relationships that add richness to life.
Current and future practice
Common qualities of Slow Design include:- Holistic – taking into account as many relevant short and long term factors as possible.
- Sustainable – considering the cradle-to-cradle impacts and reducing harm as much as possible including the precautionary principlePrecautionary principleThe precautionary principle or precautionary approach states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those...
. - Elegant – finding the simplest and most concise solutions that provide the desired results.
- Tailored – creating specific solutions that fit a particular situation.
- Democratic – keeping the process and results accessible to those using and impacted by the design and to non-professionals.
- Adaptable – developing solutions that will continue to work over time or that can be modified as needed.
- Durable – making sure solutions can be maintained over time while minimizing the need for repairs and replacement.
- Non-toxic – eliminating substances and processes that pollute or are toxic.
- Efficient – minimizing waste of time, labor, energy, and physical resources.
- Distinctive – promoting cultural, social, and environmental uniqueness and diversity.
Slow design is still a relatively new concept of design thinking, and its implications are yet to be fully developed and defined. It could evolve in the following ways:
- Longer design processes with more time for research, contemplation, real life impact tests, and fine tuning.
- Design for manufacturing with local or regional materials and technologies or design that supports local industries, workshops, and craftspeople.
- Design that takes into account local or regional culture both as a source of inspiration and as an important consideration for the design outcome.
- Design that studies the concept of natural time cycles and incorporates them into design and manufacturing processes.
- Design that looks at longer cycles of human behavior and sustainability.
- Design that takes into account deeper well being and the findings of positive psychologyPositive psychologyPositive psychology is a recent branch of psychology whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in...
.
See also
- Slow MovementSlow MovementThe Slow Movement advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life's pace. It began with Carlo Petrini's protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome in 1986 that sparked the creation of the Slow Food organization...
- Systems thinkingSystems thinkingSystems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish...
- Design thinkingDesign thinkingDesign Thinking refers to the methods and processes for investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analyzing knowledge, and positing solutions in the design and planning fields...
- User-centered designUser-centered designIn broad terms, user-centered design or pervasive usability is a design philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process...
Further reading
- Slow Theory: A paradigm for living sustainably?. October 2004.
- “In Praise of Slowness”. Design Observer. January 2006.
- “The Slow Life Picks Up Speed”. The New York Times. January 2008.
- Slow + Design | Abstracts + Manifesto: Slow approach to distributed economy and sustainable sensoriality. July 2008.
- “Slow Life Design: Embracing Your Inner Slow Life Designer”. Create-The-Good-Life.com. October 2009.