Customer Reviews

The Designer's Atlas of Sustainability: Charting the Conceptual Landscape through Economy, Ecology, and Culture

5 star:		(3)
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There are many books now on sustainability with most being page-after-page of lengthy, often-dry academic dissertation. Some of these books will not likely appeal to the design professional who demands more visual inspiration and smart, graphic layout in a book. Well, this book meets those needs and is a fine contribution to the topic.

This book is not a "how-to" book with lists or formulas for making products more sustainable in their design and use. Rather, it explores the many dimensions of sustainability (ecological, social, economic) and lets the reader glean inspiration for core concepts and many brief but interesting examples.

Ms. Thorpe approaches the problems of unsustainable industrialization with a keen perceptivity that intices the reader to think broadly and creatively about the world we live in and how to reimage it. In addition to traditional design priorities of function, form and cost, Ann Thorpe illustrates how all effective designs must now go through the additional "lens" of sustainability thinking to anticipate its impact now and though the product's life.

Every page is colorful with pictures, creative graphic layout that makes learning new things about this topic more enjoyable. The writing is quite philosophical in its approach (which may be a bit too much for some wanting more 1-2-3 steps). Also, more detailed case studies would have driven home the concepts better as would a more integrated, direct writing style.

But, Thorpes' approach is to teach one how to think and not what to think. It gives designers a new lens to evaluate the how design impacts human/ecological well being as well as the increasingly limited resources of our planet. But, this highly visual book was a nice change from many other, purely academic books I have read on sustainability. 4 stars overall.

Issues of sustainability are key to many different kinds of designers, from architects to graphic designers - and this title is designed to cross genres to appeal not only to designers but to the consumers using their services. Chapters provide a fine introduction to blending sustainability concerns throughout the design process: college-level collections in design as well as general-interest libraries catering to consumers need Designer's Atlas of Sustainability, a key to public policies, consumer needs, and basic sustainability issues.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Every time I leaf the book I discover some new great ideas related with sustainability. Ann has done a very complete work. Essential for teachers involved in sustainability education.