Nature: Collaborations in Design: Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial (PB)

Designers today are striving to transform our relationship with the natural world. While the modern industrial age gave way to designs that vastly improved human enterprise through technology, there were unintended and destructive consequences for the environment. Humans are intrinsically linked to nature yet our actions have frayed this relationship, forcing designers to think more intentionally and to consider the impact of every design decision, from an artifact’s manufacture and use to its obsolescence. Designers are aligning with biologists, engineers, agriculturists, environmentalists and many other disciplines to design a more harmonious and regenerative future. Based on these new partnerships, designers are asking different questions and anticipating future challenges, which not only change the design process, but also what design means.