Aesthetics of Sustainability is a beautifully crafted book that lives up to the book’s theme of sustainability by using green paper made from algae, for example. It shows the possibilities of using renewable materials in product design and demonstrates through thoughtful graduation projects from ECAL / Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne what good ideas can do for our world.

The book Aesthetics of Sustainability summarizes the results of an eponymous research project led by ECAL / Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne. It brought together master’s students of product design, established materials specialists, manufacturers, and researchers with the aim of exploring and defining the aesthetic potential of a new generation of sustainable materials.

The result of this research-through-design project is a series of fourteen case studies involving the development of materials made from textile waste, recycled paper, rubber granulate, or vegetable fibers such as algae, rice husks, hemp, flax, and wood. The resulting new materials can be shaped, pressed, woven, or welded. A selection of these materials will be presented through experiments and prototypes of products.

The aim is to offer future designers a range of practical tools and applied knowledge about the methods of analyzing and processing seminal materials, utilizing their advantageous qualities, and developing functional, yet aesthetically intriguing objects. The materials further aim to provide proof that sustainable materials are a great market opportunity for manufacturers and consumers alike.

Aesthetics of Sustainability

Editor: Thilo Alex Brunner
Graphic Design and Editorial Management: Federico Barbon
Publisher: Triest Verlag
Language: English
Volume: 272 pages, ca. 150 images
Format: 19 × 26 cm
Workmanship: softcover with flaps
Production: printed on resource-saving paper made from algae and kiwi peels
ISBN: 978-3-03863-062-3