The Shape of Green: Aesthetic Imperatives

by Lance Hosey on placesjournal.org

In this short article "The Shape of Green: Aesthetic Imperatives," Lance Hosey advocates for an "aesthetic mandate" in ecological design. He presents his case less as an argument than as a collection of observations, some of the more pertinent, in my opinion, being: 

1. Too often the focus on efficiency represents a symptomatic treatment, when the underlying cause is our addiction to consumption. 
2. Changes in physical form can represent an economical, low-tech alternative to complicated mechanical solutions. He contrasts small, aerodynamic cars using internal combustion engines with hybrid-electric models. "Design can trump technology," he writes.
3. Sensual experience is not superficial, as puritanical folk-wisdom prescribes, nor an auxiliary late-phase desire as typologized in Maslow's hierarchy. Rather, "style has substance." It matters, and can even subsidize poverty in another aspect of life.
4. What is more, in the data age, style is the means by which we attract attention in an overfull world. Access to information is no longer the issue, perhaps even an impediment. Style, more than ever, has economic value.
5. The question remains as to what an ecological style look like beyond a "burlap aesthetic." Hosey advocates for one that is based in "principles and mechanics for making design more responsive and responsible, environmentally, socially, and economically."