Designers aren't doing enough to reduce humanity's impact on the planet and should follow the lead of Greenpeace and use compelling narratives to "retell the story of design," according to the environmental charity's co-founder Rex Weyler.
"Design and architecture can play a role by really redesigning, rethinking, reimagining what it means to be a designer or an architect," said Weyler, who cofounded the activist organisation 50 years ago and edited its first newsletter.
"We have to design to give space back and to reduce the human footprint," he said.
Top: Rex Weyler (left), Nina-Marie Lister (centre) and Michael Green (right) took part in a talk on Dezeen. Above: Weyler is co-founder of Greenpeace
Weyler made the remarks in a talk that was live-streamed on Dezeen to coincide with Greenpeace's 50th anniversary. The talk, titled Design, Activism and Impact, explored whether designers and architects are doing enough to respond to environmental issues, with Weyler arguing that they need to take a more activist approach.
"Somebody has to retell the story of design in the same way that Greenpeace attempted to retell the story of humanity on Earth," he said. "Designers could take a lead in helping to reshape and retell this story for the whole world."
Greenpeace cameraman Ron Precious (left) pictured with Rex Weyler (right) in 1976. Photo is by Matt Herron
Greenpeace is an international organisation dedicated to the protection of...