Design for the New World: From Human Design to Planet Design

by Ida Engholm

Overview

A call for design thinking that centers the planet over human desires.
 
In recent years, numerous fields have applied design principles to a variety of social challenges. Perhaps none of these are as critical as climate change. Design for the New World offers a paradigm shift in design and design thinking, away from a focus on human scales, needs, and wants. Instead, Ida Engholm advances a perspective that centers on the planet, one in which design aims to create a balanced coexistence between humans and other species.

To develop this new criterion, Engholm connects traditional design thinking with ongoing debates about the Anthropocene as well as innovative perspectives from systems thinking, systemic leadership, and indigenous practices. She responds to current discussions within design research about the role design can play in the sustainable transition, offering new methods and mindsets to handle the scale and complexity of the environmental crisis. Design for the New World presents concrete tools to turn these theoretical reflections into a transformative practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789387186
Publisher:	Intellect, Limited
Publication date:	01/20/2023
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Ida Engholm is professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design. She is the author of Quick Guide to Design Thinking, among other books.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Being in the Making 10

Chapter 1 A Journey of Consciousness. How Did We Get Here? 42

Chapter 2 Wicked Problems. How Can We Handle the Trouble? 74

Chapter 3 Zooming In and Out. What Is Our Perspective? 116

Chapter 4 The Needs of the System. Who Is in Charge? 148

Chapter 5 Creating Change. How Do We Get Started? 164

Chapter 6 DesignWISE. How Might We? 222

Notes 252

Illustrations 256

Bibliography 258

Index 264

Acknowledgement 269

Editorial Reviews

[Richard Owen] was a scientific colossus . . . Readers may not leave with feelings of admiration for the man himself, but they will surely come to appreciate his central role in the vibrant enterprise of natural history in the 1800s."

Natural History

Ida Engholm has written a beautiful, insightful and inspirational book. What more could you ask for? Not only is this a significant design book, but it is also a striking and hugely motivational leadership book. Design for the New World offers one of the most compelling messages about how we can and how we must design, to achieve a new, sustainable, and more just world.

Steen Hildebrandt

"This book is a call to arms to question assumptions, heed past wisdom, and respond to the environmental crises of the present time."

Choice

Clarity, insight and hope for the future: what’s not to love about this book?

Kate Fletcher

Change is everywhere and change is apparent in our time. The world is going through faster cycles of change than ever. The uncertainty levels are exploding and the horizons for classic planning are shrinking. Ida Engholm has written a book about how design fits into this new reality. She brilliantly shows us patterns, red threads, and clues for bringing clarity and vision through design. Her astonishing overview across the field of idea history, philosophy, and design academics are mixed with actual, practical models, and examples. I can highly recommend this book to leaders and designers across the world who wonder how we can make the field of design a key strategic pillar in adopting to the new reality of this time.

Michael McKay

This epic book offers a paradigm-shifting solid and tangible guide to all interested in being part designing a flourishing, thriving, regenerative world that aligns with the design principles of our magnificent planet. It gives the reader plenty of delicious nutrients to be able to design and dream into existence radical new design-thinking, doing, and being. This book is truly a groundbreaking design guide that I deeply hope will be embedded in curriculums all over the world. It has to if we want to stand a chance.

Laura Storm

A new dimension of design that emphasizes environmental and climate concerns has emerged. Design practice and design thinking are no longer operated in silos but closely connected to sustaining the planet we live in. Ida Engholm’s Design for the New World is one of the first design theory books that presents aholistic perspective of design and design thinking. This inspiring book demonstrates the focus of design being shifted from products to the planet—the greater whole that involves not only the environment but also the core values of being human in the complex world.

Nithikul Nimkulrat

"The book is driven by a strong ethical agenda regarding design’s responsibility and role in social development. [...] Engholm’s book is a lengthy defense of design thinking and design methods’ particular relevance in addressing hypercomplex sustainability challenges.[...] To me, the strength of the book thus lies in its precise identification of the way the Anthropocene and the development of the concept of design raise fundamental questions about design’s role and responsibility, and one can only have respect for the impressive amount of knowledge that is synthesized in the book and the author’s willingness to think about it in relation to practice. With the inclusion of critical and speculative design, Engholm shows in the book how the Anthropocene opens a space of possible futures that demand democratic debate through collaborative processes, but which are increasingly limited by the consequences of our choices for the environment we ourselves create."
 

Niels Peter Skou | Formkraft: Journal for Crafts & Design