Contemporary design must ensure the sustainability of the production process, the product and the behavior which it results in.
To tackle the problems which bind product design to environmental issues it is necessary to discuss some of the fundamental rules of contemporary design. The classification which, for a long time, distinguished design from eco-design no longer has any meaning. Contemporary design must ensure the sustainability of the production process, the product and the behavior which it results in.
Environmental requirements have become pre-requisites for contemporary design and, in future, projects will have to be the end-result of an ever-more in-depth study of the functional, semantic and environmental requirements which may stem from the relationship between people and the planet on which they live. This book looks into the debate surrounding the role of design on sustainable development, summarizing the most important milestones in a process that has made people aware that design, and hence designers, entrepreneurs, communicators, distributors and final users must all play a vital role in achieving sustainable development. Divided into four chapters, the book looks at the relationship between design and sustainability, starting with a broad view of the issues involved and also touching on aspects such as the ethics of projects and behavior. It looks at the approach to designs for sustainable products, which are seen as being part of complex, systemic wholes and illustrated with concrete examples of objects and prototypes.