On the Beauty of Social Design

Photograph and photographer unknown // It is time that we apply the beauty we use to construct interiors and clothing to social development. Let's make social development beautiful. 

When we contemplate what the term beauty means today, the immediate images that come to mind are beautifully styled interiors, luxury candles and finely crafted fashion. When we think of the term social development or ecological preservation, we think of something that has been degraded, old, unsophisticated and underprivileged. To serve society seems almost altruistic. We see this altruism as the opposite of the excess that has been long associated with fine craftsmanship and high pricing. But does beauty and social development have to sit opposite one another? Can they not intersect, connect, learn from one another? Is not all thoughtful design work a social act? And by thoughtful, I mean work that considers not just materiality, but messaging and the context in which it sits and will sit into the future. 

Words by Natasha J. Hussein