Sustainable aesthetics in the design of Dieter Rams and Ross Lovegrove

Abstract

This article aims to examine how Dieter Rams and Ross Lovegrove understand the concept of sustainable aesthetics. Most studies that investigate the relationship between sustainability or sustainable design and aesthetics within the field of product design take the premise that sustainability and aesthetics are two independent, juxtaposed concepts, each with a separate identity, found in contemporary design that aims to be environmentally-friendly. Under this premise, aesthetics usually plays the role of subsequently adorning or embellishing the sustainable materials. In contrast to the concept of an asynchronous, decorative process, this article proposes a different perspective. Rather than conceiving sustainable design and aesthetics as two independent pieces of a puzzle that fit together, we argue that sustainability and aesthetics are the joint pillars of good product design, which we associate with “sustainable aesthetics”; each pillar requires the other in order to develop an environmental strategy, as Rams and Lovegrove propound.