I Would Prefer Not To Design It

Abstract

Unlike a poem or a song, an object (designed and produced) and a space (designed and constructed) are invariably permeated by the power relations that have made them possible. For, regardless of the intention of the participating agents, designs cannot help but convey the values that sustain, justify and prolong the power relations that have facilitated their existence. With this in mind, especially in the case of the new digital technologies, designers, beyond simply offering a final solution, are increasingly concerned with controlling and influencing the parts of the production process where the social, labour and ecological implications determine, more than just the form itself, the ethical and political value of the design. And of all the political aspects involved in the design process, one holds particular importance: environmental conservation. The immediacy of the environmental crisis that faces us begs the question: what if, instead of coming up with new designs, we devise a way to not design? We cease to produce. There are many examples of this. After all, any product, no matter how small its ecological footprint, will always be pollutant if its purpose is superfluous and non-essential. Other cultures and time periods, such as the Japanese culture prior to the 1960s, demonstrate how some products we believe to be essential are in fact contingent and could quite easily not exist at all. Chairs are a prime example of this.