Report: Ecological by Design: A History from Scandinavia by Kjetil Fallan (recipient of the Research Publication Grant)

21 October 2024 -

Prof Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo and Editor of the JDH, reports on the publication of Ecological by Design: A History from Scandinavia, which was partly funded by the DHS Research Publication Grant.

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I am very grateful to the Design History Society for awarding me its Research Publication Grant for 2022, which covered the indexing costs for my book Ecological by Design: A History from Scandinavia, published by the MIT Press.

The book explores the making of ecological design in a globally situated Scandinavia in the late 1960s and 1970s. In so doing, it provides a much-needed historical understanding of what is arguably the most significant development in design culture since the industrial revolution: the quest for a more sustainable future. This imperative permeates all aspects of contemporary design discourse, from research and education to professional practice and popular media—but its historical emergence remains under-researched. Ecological by Design addresses this lacuna by examining ecological design in its making during the era of popular environmentalism and what is often referred to as the “crisis” of modernism.

The Scandinavian countries are widely considered pioneering societies in the shift toward a more sustainable future. Scandinavia is also widely acclaimed for its design culture. Rarely, however, have these two understandings been considered together. This book is the first to examine how they are deeply entangled in surprising and significant ways, thus comprising a novel history of the emergence of what is now known as ecological design. Scandinavia’s image as a driving force in environmentalism and sustainable development makes an easy target, of course—there are plenty of beams in the eyes of Scandinavian politicians, planners, manufacturers, designers, and consumers—but it isn’t entirely unwarranted either. The region proved a fertile soil for political activism, counterculture, and the modern environmental movement, and is home to the world’s first Environmental Protection Agency (Sweden, 1967) as well as the world’s first Ministry of Environmental Protection (Norway, 1972; Denmark, 1971/1973). This is not to argue for any sort of regional exceptionalism, but to establish a distinct and productive perspective. The study might set out from a specific geography, but it is by no means isolationist in its outlook. Reflecting the global nature both of the environmental crisis and of modern design culture, the case studies are consistently placed in an international context, resulting in a narrative that ventures far beyond the shores of Scandinavia, tracing key connections to continental Europe, Britain, the western United States, Central America, and East Africa.

Although distinctly a historical study, many of the key issues discussed in this book remain at the forefront of design and environmental discourse even today. Activism, reform movements, social change, consumption, capitalism, biodiversity, natural resources, environmental justice, colonialism, and so on are not particularistic concerns, but deeply entangled both in space and time and of vital importance to any history of ecological design as well as to contemporary design culture.