Abstract

This paper reports on a multidisciplinary process of dialogue created around the principles of sustainability and the changes necessary to implement sustainable design. The process began at the Third International Conference on Design Principles and Practices, held in Berlin, Germany in 2009. Out of this dialogue emerged a statement of principles entitled The Berlin Manifesto. The dialogue continued at the Fourth International Conference on Design Principles and Practices, held in Chicago, Illinois, USA in 2010. This paper explores the rationale for the substance as well as the process of these two dialogues. The Berlin Manifesto is reviewed, along with the basic principles of sustainability. Following a discussion of Chicago as a product of quintessentially modern (i.e., unsustainable) development, the insights produced by the focused dialogue of an international team of designers are reported.