Meaningful Stuff: Design That LastsAn argument for a design philosophy of better, not more. Never have we wanted, owned, and wasted so much stuff. Our consumptive path through modern life leaves a wake of social and ecological destruction--sneakers worn only once, bicycles barely even ridden, and forgotten smartphones languishing in drawers. By what perverse alchemy do our newest, coolest things so readily transform into meaningless junk? In Meaningful Stuff, Jonathan Chapman investigates why we throw away things that still work, and shows how we can design products, services, and systems that last. Obsolescence is an economically driven design decision--a plan to hasten a product's functional or psychological undesirability. Many electronic devices, for example, are intentionally impossible to dismantle for repair or recycling, their brief use-career proceeding inexorably to a landfill. A sustainable design specialist who serves as a consultant to global businesses and governmental organizations, Chapman calls for the decoupling of economic activity from mindless material consumption and shows how to do it. Chapman shares his vision for an "experience heavy, material light" design sensibility. This vital and timely new design philosophy reveals how meaning emerges from designed encounters between people and things, explores ways to increase the quality and longevity of our relationships with objects and the systems behind them, and ultimately demonstrates why design can--and must--lead the transition to a sustainable future. |
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accessed July aesthetics Anthropocene argues become behaviors belief challenges circular economy complex Conflict Minerals connected consumers consumption context create cultural describes design classics design that lasts Design Thinking design-led designed things designed world Desmet dynamic e-waste ecological effect electronic Ellen MacArthur ence enduring engage environment epipelagic zone episodic memories everyday example experiential Facebook Fairphone feel Fokkinga future global hadal zone Hedonic Hekkert human imagine individual Joe Macleod lives London longer maintenance manufacture material experience material things material world meaning meaningful associations negative emotions norms Nottingham Trent University obsolescence Oxon person planned obsolescence positive possessions practices product experience products that last psychological recycling relationship repair replaced Research role Routledge shape significant smartphone society space story superstitious Sustainable Product Design System Change throwaway tion tive Today ucts understand unfolding University Press Wabi-Sabi Wallendorf waste waste pickers wicked problems