Ten prominent designers create objects using only sustainably grown and harvested materials Design for a Living World was developed by The Nature Conservancy, one of the world's leading conservation organizations, in order to raise global awareness about the impact and promise of sustainable sourcing. Ten prominent designers, including Kate Spade, Issac Mizrahi, Yves Béhar, Hella Jongerius and Ted Muehling were invited to create objects using only sustainably grown and harvested materials from some of the world's most beautiful and ecologically precarious places. Each of these landscapes supports its own distinct ecosystem and provides crucial livelihoods to local communities; each one is threatened by the effects of climate change and global economics--deforestation, overdevelopment and other destructive forces. Design for a Living World illuminates the complexity and vitality of raw materials at their source, including the people and cultures that actually produce them. The above designers were selected for their willingness to experiment and for their record of active engagement with issues of sustainability and social justice. In addition to presenting the designers' sketches, models and finished objects, Design for a Living World features original photographs by award-winning photojournalist Ami Vitale, who traveled around the world to document the many landscapes explored in this volume.

Today we urgently need to reevaluate the human place in the world in relation to other animals. This book puts Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy into dialogue with literature, evolutionary biology, and animal studies. In a radical departure from most critical animal studies, it argues for evolutionary continuity between human cultural and linguistic behaviors and the semiotic activities of other animals. In his late work, Derrida complained of philosophers who denied that animals possessed such faculties, but he never investigated the wealth of scientific studies of actual animal behavior. Most animal studies theorists still fail to do this. Yet more than fifty years ago, Merleau-Ponty carefully examined the philosophical consequences of scientific animal studies, with profound implications for human language and culture. For him, “animality is the logos of the sensible world: an incorporated meaning.” Human being is inseparable from animality. This book differs from other studies of Merleau-Ponty by emphasizing his lifelong attention to science. It shows how his attention to evolutionary biology and ethology anticipated recent studies of animal cognition, culture, and communication.

In this brief, accessible volume, the authors — an urban philosopher and a mathematician-physicist — explain the surprising new findings from the sciences that are beginning to transform environmental design in the modern era. Authors Michael Mehaffy and Nikos Salingaros explore fractals, networks, self-organization, dynamical systems and other revolutionary ideas, describing them to non-science readers in a direct and engaging way. The book also examines fascinating new topics of design, including Agile, Wiki, Design Patterns and other “open-source” approaches from the software world. The authors conclude that a profound transformation is under way in modern design — and today’s students and practitioners will need to be aware of its implications for our future. “Lucidly describes what’s coming in the world of design — and what needs to come.” — Ward Cunningham, Inventor of wiki, and pioneer of Pattern Languages of Programming, Agile, and Scrum “Essential reading for all urban designers.” — Jeff Speck, Author of Walkable City “Brilliant.” — Charles Montgomery, Author of Happy City “Inspired, compelling and fascinating… Recognizes that a true architecture can be dug from the facts, insights, and theories, that occur with a broadening of science to include the human being.” — Christopher Alexander, Author of A Pattern Language and Notes on the Synthesis of Form Some comments on the individual chapters: “Packed with detail and beautiful in presentation.” — Gil Friend “Human society must find a path of retreat. Salingaros and Mehaffy point the way.” — David Brussat, Providence Journal “Michael Mehaffy and Nikos Salingaros have written some brilliant articles on how we can co-create cities which are truly resilient, rather than being ‘engineered resilient’.” — Smallworld Urbanism “For me, this essay was like a flash of insight, and I suddenly saw the world in a new light.” — Oeyvind Holmstad, Permaliv “We’ve just come across a very thoughtful article by Michael Mehaffy and Nikos Salingaros… [who] draw a number of lessons from biological systems and use them to draw conclusions about how resilient human systems must be designed.” — Resilient Design Institute “Salingaros and Mehaffy take us from the configuration of city spaces to the order of cells in living beings.” — Jaap Dawson, Delft Institute of Technology “If you wanted to know where the cutting edge was in urban design, it is here.” — Patrick J. Kennedy, CarFreeInBigD “This is the single most intelligent and illuminating article I’ve seen on Archdaily in 3 years.” — Nìming Pínglùn Zhě, China Michael Mehaffy is an urbanist and design theorist, and a periodic visiting professor or adjunct in five graduate universities in four countries and three disciplines (architecture, urban planning and philosophy) including the University of Oregon (US) and the University of Strathclyde (UK). He has been a close associate of the architect and software pioneer Christopher Alexander, and a Research Associate with the Center for Environmental Structure, Alexander’s research center founded in 1967. He is currently executive director of Portland, Oregon based Sustasis Foundation, and editor of Sustasis Press. Nikos A. Salingaros is a mathematician and polymath known for his work on urban theory, architectural theory, complexity theory, and design philosophy. He has been a close collaborator of the architect and computer software pioneer Christopher Alexander. Salingaros published substantive research on Algebras, Mathematical Physics, Electromagnetic Fields, and Thermonuclear Fusion before turning his attention to Architecture and Urbanism. He is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio and has been on the Architecture faculties of universities in Italy, Mexico, and The Netherlands.

Nothing lies beyond the scope of your ability. The new design for living you create has no limitations. Literally all the good things that life and the world offer are yours to have and enjoy. But you need to recognize them, accept them, and incorporate them into the new design you are now going to create. In its scope, and in its effect on readers, A New Design for Living is second only to Ernest Holmes's magnum opus, The Science of Mind. In this cherished spiritual classic, Holmes demonstrates that wishes-from health, love, and friendship to the career and home of your dreams-are not only possible to realize but are within each person's very reach. At last available again, this galvanizing book teaches how to turn mind-power into an infinitely positive force-the very force of creation itself. Harmonize with the beauty and intelligence of the universe, watch the magnificence of life transform before you, and awaken to the nature of reality. With this newfound power of transformative thinking, every goal is attainable.

From acclaimed architect and designer Keith Summerour comes an alluring new book of carefully crafted dwellings that redefine the idea of home for today. When we think about what home is, many of us would say a house that is soulful and welcoming, a place with an inviting porch and a lush garden, a welcoming entryway and well-crafted living spaces that will nurture our private moments and expand to welcome guests. In this alluring new book, Keith Summerour shares nine houses, exploring their architecture, interiors, and grounds, to illustrate a new idea of home. Reinterpreting and making new his own Southern legacy that speaks both of aristocratic charm and homespun appeal, these homes range from rustic retreats that draw their power from the land to elegant manor houses, but all share extraordinary character and charm that nod to history while reflecting the way people wish to live in the world today. Enriched by the work of some of the top interior decorators working today, including Beth Webb, Barbara Westbrook, Circa Interiors, and Liza Bryan, as well as world-renowned landscape designers Jeremy Smearman and John Howard, and beautifully illustrated with all-new photography, Creating Home is the ultimate dream book.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • At last, a book that shows you how to build—design—a life you can thrive in, at any age or stage • “Life has questions. They have answers.” —The New York Times Designers create worlds and solve problems using design thinking. Look around your office or home—at the tablet or smartphone you may be holding or the chair you are sitting in. Everything in our lives was designed by someone. And every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve. In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling, regardless of who or where we are, what we do or have done for a living, or how young or old we are. The same design thinking responsible for amazing technology, products, and spaces can be used to design and build your career and your life, a life of fulfillment and joy, constantly creative and productive, one that always holds the possibility of surprise.

From an international authority on design, how to create a home that engages your senses and reflects your personality Melissa Penfold, Australia's foremost authority on style and design, regularly attracts a worldwide audience of more than 1.8 million to her website, newsletter, and Instagram account. Now she has distilled her three decades of expertise into a single volume, identifying the basic decorating principles--including light and space, composition and balance, and pattern and texture--and offering hundreds of invaluable tips on how to apply them to turn your house into a home that is comfortable, intimate, beautiful, and the most authentic expression of your personal aesthetic. Illustrated with images of her own home and inspirational homes around the world, Living Well by Design is an indispensable resource for everyone eager to create interiors in which decorating fundamentals are integrally interwoven with individual style.

Despite an uncertain economy, the market for green building is exploding. The US green building market has expanded dramatically since 2008 and is projected to double in size by 2015 (from $42 billion in construction starts to $135 billion). But green-building pioneer Sim Van der Ryn says, “greening” our buildings is not enough. He advocates for “empathic design”, in which a designer not only works in concert with nature, but with an understanding of and empathy for the end user and for ones self. It is not just one of these connections, but all three that are necessary to design for a future that is more humane, equitable, and resilient. Sim’s lifelong focus has been in shifting the paradigm in architecture and design. Instead of thinking about design primarily in relation to the infrastructure we live in and with—everything from buildings to wireless routing—he advocates for a focus on the people who use and are affected by this infrastructure. Basic design must include a real understanding of human ecology or end-user preferences. Understanding ones motivations and spirituality, Sim believes, is critical to designing with empathy for natural and human communities. In Design for an Empathic World Van der Ryn shares his thoughts and experience about the design of our world today. With a focus on the strengths and weaknesses in our approach to the design of our communities, regions, and buildings he looks at promising trends and projects that demonstrate how we can help create a better world for others and ourselves. Architects, urban designers, and students of architecture will all enjoy this beautifully illustrated book drawing on a rich and revered career of a noted leader in their field. The journey described in Design for an Empathic World will help to inspire change and foster the collaboration and thoughtfulness necessary to achieve a more empathic future.

Joel Beath and Elizabeth Price explore this question drawing inspiration from a diverse collection of apartment designs, all smaller than 50m2/540ft2. Through the lens of five small-footprint design principles and drawing on architectural images and detailed floor plans, the authors examine how architects and designers are reimagining small space living. Full of inspiration we can each apply to our own spaces, this is a book that offers hope and inspiration for a future of our cities and their citizens in which sustainability and style, comfort and affordability can co-exist. Never Too Small proves living better doesn’t have to mean living larger.

Based on the proven premise that "individuals are perfectly designed to get the outcomes they get", The Power of Living By Design provokes your thoughts using a framework called the Successful Life Systems Design Model to guide you in understanding choices you’ve made in your life, either consciously or unconsciously. Integrating classic success principles from over twenty resources as alternative choices, The Power of Living By Design then provides a sequenced system to assure your future choices are aligned to efficiently work together toward your desired success. As builders follow the architect’s plans to remodel an outdated house into a beautiful home, with lessons from The Power of Living By Design, you can use the framework to identify the rooms in your life that merit remodelling and the sequenced system to create a personal blueprint for reconstruction. You become your own architect and builder of the future you yearn. For individuals that seek to understand the cause and effect of their choices and are looking for a systematic approach to changing some choices in their life, The Power of Living By Design is an integration of proven strategies and techniques to make a difference in designing a life of fulfillment.