about the book
This book doesn't fit traditional categories. It has lots of pictures, but it's not a catalogue or set of case studies. It's a design book that talks about finance and discount rates. It challenges designers to look outside the marketplace and to really see materials. It examines design’s role in consumer-image culture while at the same time acknowledging the “saint-sinner” dilemma inherent in sustainable design practice.

It crosses a lot of boundaries to bring together a concise, time-saving compendium of key concepts about sustaianbility and to explore these concepts in design terms.

- View a 600-word synopsis of the book here.
- download flyer with cover image: US Letter size or A4.
- download flyer with sample spreads as shown on the home page.

articles adapted from the book
- View "Ten Ways to Work in Sustainable Design," here,
- View "The Central Debates of Sustainable Design" here.

reviews and comments

New Design, Issue FiftyFive 2007 review "[the book] explores the basic principles, concepts and practices of sustainable design in an engaging style. It is neither a 'how to' manual, nor collection of recipes for sustainable design, but a compendium of fresh approaches to sustainability that designers can incorporate into daily thinking and practice."

Materials and Design Exchange eNewsletter 8 Nov 07 review by Hugh Aldersey-Williams (author, Zoomorphic), "ranging across design disciplines from architecture to product to fashion in an appealingly browsable, visual, information-rich way. Neither po-faced nor hair-shirted, it's divided into sections on ecology, economy and culture, holistically accepting that we live in a consumerist world where apparently trivial things like style actually matter to us in deep ways. These three contexts converge in the final section, called Frontiers, which tackles our obsession with the look, feel and possession of things. Here author Ann Thorpe suggests how we 'might begin to detach visuality and materialism from our notions of well-being'. It might sound like some weird spiritual quest, but Thorpe makes a good case that this is actually a job for designers."

Architectural Record, October 2007 review by Russell Fortmeyer, "lays out a broader map of sustainability for designers...giving the reader a highly visual and accessible tutorial in subjects as diverse as lifecycle analysis and materials production to the effects of economic globalization and corporate responsibility."

Sustainable Industires, September 2007 review by Aaron Berg "[the book] is presented as a resource guide for designers (of anything) but even as a non-designer I still found it interesting and relevant...Sustainable Industries has offered reviews of books focused on design, and this is the only one I would recommend to a professional interested in the discipline of sustainable design."

Library Journal, September 2007 review by David Soltész "Thorpe presents a holistic approach to embedding sustainability into every step of the design process that is applicable to everything from jeans to office buildings. Rather than promoting any specific technology or process, she uses the metaphor of an atlas to guide the designer through various "landscapes," treating ecology, the economy, and culture as interdependent spheres the designer should strive to understand, engage, and enhance. "

ForeWord review by Erica Wetter, "a superb primer on the conceptual principles behind the sustainability movement so that all designers—whether they’re working on buildings, cars, or ads—can help society move toward a sustainable future."

Treehugger.com- review by Lloyd Alter, Toronto, 10 July 07, excerpt: "This book is an essential, clear and comprehensible reference for any kind of designer."