Alice Rawsthorn: Design as an Attitude

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Design is one of the most powerful forces in our lives, and has never been more exciting. At a time when so many aspects of our lives are changing at relentless speed on an unprecedented scale, design is increasingly seen as a means of helping us to benefit from the opportunities created by those changes, and to avoid the dangers. Public interest is soaring as a new generation of designers is using advanced technologies to pursue their political and environmental objectives in increasingly ambitious projects, as well as to reinvent the objects and spaces we use every day. Conceived as a subjective field guide to design, Alice Rawsthorn’s „Design as an Attitude“ demystifies the field, explores the most dynamic developments in contemporary design, and assesses their impact on our lives now and in the future, acting as a comprehensive survey of design today.

In an authoritative and enjoyable way, „Design as an Attitude“ makes explicit how design is responding to an age of intense economic, political, and ecological instability. It shows how resourceful designers are using their new technological tools to help tackle the environmental crisis, reinvent dysfunctional social services, and assist the millions of refugees who are desperately seeking asylum. The book also charts the different aspects of contemporary design, from book-making to social design, from the craft revival to the gender politics of design, and tells the stories of the new design adventurers (Jan Willem Petersen, Aimee Mullins, Irma Boom, Hella Jongerius, formafantasma, to name a few) who are embarking on bold endeavors.

Followed by an index and bibliography, the book comprises 12 chapters: Design as an Attitude; Spot the Difference: Design and Art; The Craft Revival; Endangered Objects; Back to the Future; Is Design Still a (cis) Man’s World?; Design’s Color Problem; All the Fun of the (Furniture) Fair; Choices, Choices, Choices; Out of Control, Design and Desire; When the Worst Comes to the Worst; and The Future by Design.

One of the world’s leading design and contemporary culture commentators, London-based critic and journalist Alice Rawsthorn has written for the „Financial Times“, where she pioneered its coverage of the creative industries, on design for the „International New York Times“, and in the contemporary art magazine Frieze where she had a regular design column. From 2001 to 2006 she was Director of the Design Museum in London. Her previous books include „Hello World: Where Design Meets Life“ (2013), which explores design’s impact on our past, present, and future lives, and a biography of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (1996).

The book is part of the Documents series, co-published with Les presses du réel and dedicated to critical writing.