Ecodesign: Design of the environment or design of the milieu?

Résumé 0

Can the theoretical opposition between a “design for the environment” and a “design for the milieu” tell design practices apart? This historical and philosophical article suggests answering in the affirmative. At first, it contrasts two visions of ecological design— Buckminster Fuller’s on the one hand and Victor Papanek and Tomás Maldonado’s on the other—and what seems to be their heritage: geo-engineering on one hand and sustainable design on the other. It will then question how the concept of the environment and that of milieu end up within two different but complementary practices. The concept of milieu allows for the complexification of what is meant by ecodesign by not limiting it to “environmental standards” and opening up design onto its social and political dimensions. While the design of the environment supposes that modifying the environment is enough to achieve a sustainable world, the design of the milieu suggests that the environment cannot be modified unless we modify ourselves first.