Alastair Fuad-Luke is engaged in an on-going conversation about ‘slow design’, design to slow human, economic and resource use metabolisms in order to re-balance individual, socio-cultural and environmental well-being. Currently, he is an itinerant sustainable design lecturer, writer and designer-maker delivering lectures, workshops and talks in UK and overseas. He has had a seat on slowLab's Board of Directors since 2005.

With experience across sustainable design, environmental consultancy/soil bio-engineering, and the media/publishing industry, he sees a new emerging role for designers in the sustainability debate – as facilitators and enablers. He believes the pluralism of slow design generates a plethora of fresh creative challenges. This pluralism is illustrated on his web site, SLow, where the principles, theory and practice of slow design is discussed. He is collaborating with Carolyn F Strauss of SlowLab to develop slow design teaching materials.

As author of The Eco-design Handbook he has a global perspective on best practice eco-design and Design for Sustainability. Working in Higher Education over the last few years (Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall and other UK universities) has revealed a huge challenge to embed sustainable design theory and practice in a new generation of designers. He founded Tempo, a sustainable design network, to create a new cultural and discursive space for professionals, students and laypeople. Exploration of new paradigms and a re-focusing on design for well-being are critical to future design capability. He also sees a need to re-democratise design by re-enabling people’s innate design instincts and skills. ‘Design democracy’ re-builds the commons and encourages local, socially beneficial and low environmental impact solutions.

SLow >

60 minutes sofa/bench >