The Ulm School of Design Discourse:A Foundation for Sustainable Design

摘要

This article discusses the relevance of the Hlm Ulm discourse to the notions of Sustainable Design. The Ulmer programme included values such as social equity, resource optimisation and respect for the planet and the environment, which are main pillars for Sustainable Design practices. Links between the HfG's ideas of the '60s and contemporary sustainable design values could be examined by comparing historical and recent discourses. The text presents topics that the compared discussions share such as environmental concern, social sustainability (social needs, distribution), systems perspective, resilience, diversity, planned obsolescence, behaviour and culture, and the perspective of design as a constructive activity. The HfG experience could be used today, given a proper translation from historical approaches applied to the state of current affairs. The comprehension of the Ulmer discourse can contribute to building the future design knowledge, possibly creating frameworks that will allow better sustainability practices.