“La speranza progettuale. Ambiente e società” in English “Design, Nature and Revolution: Toward a Critical Ecology,” published in 1970 and written by Tomás Maldonado, deals with the role of design in a modern industrial society and calls for a critical, environmentally conscious design that is not only aesthetic but also socially and ecologically aware. He notes in the preface that the book is a response “to the ideas stirred up recently by the revolutionary movement of revolt among the young.”

Maldonado sees design as “an art at the service of industry.” For him, it is an activity that combines art and technology. He also points out that “a school of Environmental Design should include all the fields of activity which can give sense and structure to the human environment.”

He calls for an understanding of design as a theory of the human environment that considers not only physical objects but also the network of communication and the methods by which objects function individually and in relation to each other. In his statements, it becomes clear that the world will not change if design methods are only formal and design programs only reactive.

He goes on to say that the ecological crisis shows that “society and nature belong to the same order of problems. There are not, as was once believed, two accounts, one with society and the other with nature.” Design should take this interaction into account and not just act reactively. Tomás Maldonado criticizes approaches such as Buckminster Fuller’s, who praise the design and planning process as a solution to social problems and disregard political realities. He describes these approaches as “technocratic utopianism.”

“It seems to be easier to produce an object than to make it disappear. [...] One can try to reduce the object’s dimensions, compress it, fragment it, reuse it, or recuperate it partially as raw material.” Maldonado cites the need for sustainable design and disposal and the need for systemic thinking, even if he remains skeptical of bureaucratic approaches. He also criticizes Venturi and Scott Brown's romanticized view of Las Vegas, which ignores the capitalist and ideological background of the city.

Rather than seeing design as a mere transfer of aesthetic taste, he sees it as an activity that must address concrete social problems. The fusion of the aesthetic values of art with design often leads to unsuitable solutions in the real world.

Maldonado pleads for responsible design that recognizes the ecological and social complexity of the world and faces up to the challenges of an “artifact environment” without falling into technocratic or naïve solutions. (kl)