DESIGNA MAGAZINE DESIGNA ISSUE III 2019 2 | Page 81

What would be the designer's
role in the current transition
to a sustainable society?
Ezio Manzini, famous Italian designer, ounce
raised an important question: What is a
designer's role in the transition to a sustainable
society?
He de�nes the role of the designer, in a
broader context, saying that the role is to
build scenarios to stimulate discussion and
innovation, helping the regeneration of social
and environmental aspects of society. He adds
that the design has a formative-educational
role that will help society to adjust to a new
reality. �e most recent de�nition of the term
“sustainable” is “quality of life,” resting on
three pillars: social, economic and
environmental.
But then how would this
formative role work?
�e formative role would be to educate the
user to a new lifestyle for a future sustainable
society through the design and use of
products, services and systems consistent with
this new sustainable quality of life.
If we could see a bridge between modern
society and what we want for the future, a
sustainable society, we could say we're still at
the beginning of the bridge. Design is the
discipline that will link the bridge between
the old system and new system of production,
consumption, and post-consumption.
�is Design social role further increases the
responsibility of the designer, as we are
(
builders of material realities dictating the
rules of how society should be consuming,
building and/or destroying lifestyles.
�ere will be a new learning process inevitable
if we are to successfully achieve this more
sustainable society, so we must learn to
produce and consume in a new way.
A gradual process of change and learning in
society is through the practice of consumption.
It is essential that the current process of
consumption is re-learned. It would be a
process of readjusting to the new society's
attitudes, values and beliefs related to the
environment.
However, in the race and practice to achieve
sustainable consumption, one should not
forget the current unsustainable consumption,
which should be studied and understood for a
further implementation of a sucessful
sustainable consumption now and in the
future.
�e emphasis on consumption is because
Manzini believes that the most difficult part of
achieving a sustainable society is changing the
attitude of the consumer, since this attitude is
a lifestyle product of individual experiences
and personal opinions and covers the
population of billions of people in the world.
Moreover, changes in aspects of design and
technology are easier because they involve
objective and factual �ndings and goals, within
an industrial environment of change and
innovation governed by national and
)
A Sociological look at the social role played
by design and designers in the social
fabric of a sustainable community
May
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June 2019 | D E S I G N A