Design for the Unthinkable World: Strange Ecology and Unwelcome Change

The edited book "Designing for a Changed World" explores the idea that the object of design has always been and can only be a changed world and our relationship to it. Chapters explore how designing itself might change to explore the possibilities for the design of what-might-not-become in an unthinkable world.

Format: Hardback
Length: 182 pages
Publication date: 13 February 2024
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This edited book challenges the notion that the primary purpose of design is to improve things. It argues that the object of design has always been, and can only be, a transformed world and our relationship to it—the world-for-us.

The book is organized into chapters, each written by carefully selected researchers and practitioners who bring diverse perspectives to their work. Contributors delve into the argument that while designing was once seen as a means to achieve desired outcomes and pursue a better world, the role of designing must evolve beyond serving the pursuit of change in the manner it has been traditionally done.

Chapters explore the possibilities for designing what might not become in an unimaginable world, referred to as a world-without-us by Eugene Thacker. This world-without-us does not imply a world devoid of humans or an interstellar realm, but rather a world we project that continues to revolve around the sun but no longer revolves around us.

This book will appeal to scholars engaged in design research, design ecology, product design, service design, experience design, architecture, and information design. It offers valuable insights into the evolving nature of design and its potential to shape a world that is both different and yet interconnected.

Weight: 656g
Dimension: 252 x 178 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032438580