The role of designers?

Awhile ago I joined a student initiated project, the Post Socialist Russia Project as a sort of webmaster and content developer. Alas, I am no longer involved in that project, but I am still interested in the themes we were developing and in the larger context of that project.

We were trying to investigate how designers could approach problems of social orgainzation from a grassroots level, and to address the problem of how people should live together. In an inspiring talk by Leslie Kavanaugh, she pushed us to not shy away from being “political” as designers, pointing out the whole spectrum between the two extremes of Hypercapitalism and Communism...

I am definitely not a moralist, and so I am automatically cautious and skeptical when confronted by causes and ideologies, especially empty ones. At the same time, as a pragmatist, I am deeply convinced that there is something wrong with business as usual, and with the way design is carried out. I am at once intrigued and repelled by words like "sustainability" and "user-centered." How much are lies and empty promises chipping away from the credibility of real issues? These words are extremely loaded and empty at the same time.

On this topic, I found a nice paragraph in an article expressing exactly what I mean about the problem of how "sustainability" is used in architecture:

There is a great deal of discussion in design, architecture, and construction circles on creating sustainable environments, and there are also widely varying opinions as to exactly how sustainability can be introduced and approached. Current debates indicate that the term encompasses more than the physical and economic aspects. It includes social, cultural, and behavioral dimensions. Observing contemporary architectural practices, however, reveals that there are two major missing dimensions. On the one hand, there is an emphasis on the physical aspects of sustainability, while socio-cultural and socio-behavioral dimensions are oversimplified. On the other hand, there is a heavy reliance on top-down policies and strategies with the aim of developing guidelines to be implemented for the betterment of environments. Strikingly, this takes place at the expense of other bottom-up strategies that aim at sensitizing users toward understanding the key issues underlying sustainability. These two missing dimensions socio-behavioural dimensions, and bottom-up strategies offer a rationale for the professional community everywhere in the world to use sustainability as a term in their daily discourse. Nevertheless, even while talking about it, they do not yet use sustainability or utilize it in their daily practices. This article presents a critical voice on the current developments and efforts in dealing with sustainability of built environments, by adopting an alternative comprehensive approach that places high value on "trans-disciplinarity"...

Even after months of research on this topic, I still do not know where I stand. The more I read, the larger the problems loom. Slowly I am becoming convinced that Leslie is correct. Designers should consider their personal stance within the greater society and the world; the how and to what extent is up to the individual. Introspection of fundamental philosophical questions are sorely lacking in our speed and technology obsessed culture.