The Living Principles for Design

October 15, 2009 Filed Under: Taking Care of Business 0 Comments

AIGA's 'LIVING PRINCIPLES FOR DESIGN' INTRODUCE QUADRUPLE BOTTOM LINE FOR
DESIGN AND BUSINESS

AIGA, the professional association for design, unveiled a new sustainability framework, The Living Principles for Design at Make/Think: AIGA Design Conference in Memphis last week. The Living Principles for Design distill the collective wisdom found in decades of sustainability theories and bring them to life in the first quadruple bottom-line framework.

The Living Principles weave together environmental protection, social equity, and economic health ‹ thus building upon commonly accepted, triple bottom-line frameworks. Most significantly, The Living Principles for Design incorporate cultural vitality because culture is where all aspects of sustainability find their way into the blood stream of society, and culture is where designers have the deepest impact as their creations and choices shape habits and values.

"The influence of design on culture is enormous," says Richard Grefé, AIGA executive director, "As designers create messages, artifacts and experiences for consumers, they have an important opportunity to weave sustainability into the broader fabric of culture, helping to shift consumption and lifestyle aspirations to a more sustainable basis for living."

Environmental iconoclast Adam Werbach notes, "The Living Principles are incredibly useful for designers as they make sustainability endemic to their work. Right now, the battle is getting people to understand that cultural vitality is as central to sustainability as environmental protection. The Living Principles do an elegant job of clarifying these concepts and making them accessible."

The AIGA Center for Sustainable Design and AIGA, the professional association for design, will submit the Living Principles for global adoption at the Icograda Xin World Design Conference in Beijing later this month.

The Living Principles, and the comprehensive analysis that led to it are available at www.livingprinciples.net and www.sustainability.aiga.org . The architects/authors of this framework are Center for Sustainable Design (CFSD) co-chairs Gaby Brink and Phil Hamlett, and CFSD's strategy committee chair, Nathalie Destandau.

See The Living Principles for Design framework:
http://www.livingprinciples.net/the-framework.htm

Review the Genealogy of The Living Systems:
http://www.livingprinciples.net/the-genealogy.htm

Join the Facebook group for conversation and updates:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Living-Principles/151326928146?v=wall

What can you do to help? Please join and expand the conversation: give the architects your thoughtful feedback, join the Facebook page and encourage your networks/friends to do the same. Help us spread the word.

AIGA Charlotte's Green Team will host it's first Green Salon event series called “Eat Your Greens” coming up soon with a discussion about The Living Principles for Design. All designers, studios and individuals are invited. Stay tuned for more details.

Written by: Rachel Martin, Membership Director, AIGA Charlotte & National Task Force, AIGA Center for Sustainable Design