Social responsibility and design as “aesthetization”.

In this seminar’s readings, social responsibility is a keynote. All four articles acknowledge the need for designers and the discipline in general to step beyond the traditional lines of design in order to really make a difference and influence in a community. In this respect, the social, cultural and political situations, laws and policies become primary factors to be taken into consideration.

Dolores states, “ buildings, tens of millions of them-can be surveyed, identified, and classified according to shape and function, but a larger sense of their political meaning is necessary” (dolores30). In parallel, Ananya Roy, in her book “Urban Informality”, talks about segregation, and more specifically on informal settlements in developing countries. She states the following: “ Seeing squatter settlements as primarily built environment has crucial implications. For example, it would imply that the upgrading of such settlements should primarily entail package of environmental reforms. And it would further imply tat the form of such upgrading should be determined by aesthetic considerations- specifically by the aesthetic desires of professional as they interpret informality and poverty […] this is not to say that the provision of physical infrastructure or the aesthetic upgrading of slums is not necessarily unimportant or unwelcome […] However such an aesthetic evaluation is clearly different from other social criteria that could have been used to gauge the project’s success: upgrading of livelihoods, the upgrading of housing rights, the upgrading of political participation” (Roy, 298).

Up to what point can deign really make a difference? What are the boundaries we need to traverse in order to really impact and truly improve the life of others? Although good design may temporarily improve the quality of life and as a result empower/incite certain actions and behaviors from it’s users, if it does not touch on the core of social, political and economic conditions, it becomes a simple “aesthetization” of place without providing any real long term opportunities or change.

With this said, the essays suggest awareness regarding design’s social responsibility, but at the same time, lack any suggestions as to how to improve our approach to design. Apart from higher involvement with communities in order to perceive their real needs and desires, there is no suggestion of a solution. how can design help eradicate segregation, and in parallel how can it be used to alleviate poverty and address the needs of all minority groups?