GUILLERMO WECHSLER

February 9, 2007

McDonough's Articulation of Design Principles

In my previous post, I mentioned three sets of design principles. Below are William McDonough's interpretations of two sets of tacit design principles for organizing social production. I took them from his book, Cradle-to-Cradle. Of course, these are imaginary recreations. However, they are interesting because they map "social intelligence."


Design Principles for the Industrial Movement:
Design a system of production that:

1. Puts billions of pounds of toxic material into the air, water, and soil every year


2. Produces some materials so dangerous they will require constant vigilance by future generations


3. Results in gigantic amounts of waste


4. Puts valuable materials in holes all over the planet, where they can never be retrieved


5. Requires thousands of complex regulations--not to keep people and natural systems safe, but rather to keep them from being poisoned too quickly


6. Measures productivity by how few people are working


7. Creates prosperity by digging up or cutting down natural resources and then burying or burning them


8. Erodes the diversity of species and cultural practices

Design Principles for a Community of Ants
As part of their daily activities, ants:

1. Safely and effectively handle their own material wastes and those of other species,


2. Grow and harvert their own food while nurturing the ecosystem of which they are part,


3. Construct houses, farms, dumps, cemeteries, living quarters, and food-stroage facilities from materials that can be truly recycled,


4. Create disinfectants and medicines that are health, safe, and biodegradable,


5. Maintain soil health for the entire planet.