[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-515089-105":59,"doc-detail-515089-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","what-design-cant-do-essays-on-design-and-disillusion","What Design Can’t Do - Essays on Design and Disillusion","","A collection of essays by Silvio Lorusso examining how design loses its promise and becomes disillusioning rather than transformative. The text argues that design’s ambitions are inflated into a smokescreen, then traces how form, power dynamics, and professional practice contribute to futility and fatigue. Through discussions of expectations, reality, semi-automation, identity as skill, and institutional compromise, the book challenges readers to reassess where design can still succeed.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/what-design-cant-do-essays-on-design-and-disillusion/515089/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/what-design-cant-do-essays-on-design-and-disillusion/515089.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Asher","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-16","2026-10-06",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the central premise of What Design Can’t Do?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The book argues that design can become a smokescreen and that the disillusion of design reflects broader disillusionment in the world.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What topics are covered across the two main parts of the book?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Part I focuses on expectations (such as panism, synthesis and autonomy, and power versus impotence). Part II turns to reality, including semi-automation, ornamental politics, identity as a skill, and compromise in professional or educational settings.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Who might benefit from reading this book beyond design specialists?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The provided praise emphasizes that because design affects everyone, understanding where design fails helps readers see where it can still succeed.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},515089,1792162812,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},687197207639,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","What Design Can’t Do Essays on Design and Disillusion Silvio Lorusso  \nSet Margins’ \\#26  \nSet Margins’ \\#26  \nWhat Design Can’t Do:  \nEssays on Design and Disillusion by Silvio Lorusso  \nISBN: 978-90-833501-3-4  \nGraphic design: Federico Antonini ([www.federicoantonini.info](www.federicoantonini.info)) Advisor: Freek Lomme  \nCopy-editing: Isobel Butters  \nPrinted by Balto Print (Vilnius) Print run: 4000  \nTypeset in: HAL Timezone  \nFirst edition: 2023  \nUnless otherwise credited, all images reproduced in this book are the property of their respective authors. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holdersand to obtain their permission for the use of copyrighted material. In the event of any copyright holder being inadvertently omitted, please contact the publisher directly.  \nThe citations from Italian, French and Portuguese sources were translated by the author. All the links referenced in this book were visited on the 28th August, 2023.  \nThis publication is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/)[ ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/)[by-nc-sa/4.0/](by-nc-sa/4.0/).  \nSet Margins’  \n[www.setmargins.press](www.setmargins.press)  \nPraise for What Design Can’t Do  \n“Are you a bit depressed about design? This book might help you understand why. It may also make you laugh. With a lightness of touch, Silvio Lorusso provides an unflinching but well-reasoned discussion as to how design has become so ‘bigged up’ and what this actually means for its practitioners. After reading this book, design will never look the same to you.”  \n– Guy Julier, author of Economies of Design“What happens once design is a smokescreen and can no longer claim to be a blueprint for change? This is the question Silvio Lorusso puts on the table. How did form, no matter how cool and disruptive, become so futile and tired? Read this with caution: we can no longer design ourselves out of this painful realisation.”  \n– Geert Lovink, author of Stuck on the Platform“The disillusion of design is the disillusion of the world. This book is an essential read, not only for specialists. Because design affects us all, and because understanding where design fails helps us understand where design succeeds.”  \n– Emanuele Quinz, author of Strange Design“Italo-pessimist design critique at its best.”  \n– Clara Balaguer, cultural worker and grey literature circulator  \nTABLE OF CONTENTS  \nPrologue: Starter Pack p. 14  \n1. In the Middle p. 32  \nP A R T I . E X P E C T A T I O N S  \n2. Everything Everyone All at Once:  \nOn Design Panism p. 72  \n3. A Complex Relationship:  \nOn Synthesis and Autonomy p. 96  \n4. Flipping the Table:  \nOn Power and Impotence p. 130  \nP A R T I I . R E A L I T Y  \n5. Form Follows Format:  \nOn Semi-Automation and Cultural  \nProfessionalism p. 168  \n6. Kritikaoke:  \nOn Ornamental Politics  \nand Identity as a Skill p. 208  \n7. The School as Real World:  \nOn Aspirations and Compromise p. 244  \nEpilogue: Ragequit p. 290  \nAcknowledgements p. 306  \nBibliography p. 310  \nIndex of Names p. 334","cbCaibTyw3akxFVg","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibTyw3akxFVg","pdf",10366773,356,"English","# Prologue: Starter Pack\n## 1. In the Middle\n## 2. Everything Everyone All at Once: On Design Panism\n## 3. A Complex Relationship: On Synthesis and Autonomy\n## 4. Flipping the Table: On Power and Impotence\n## 5. Form Follows Format: On Semi-Automation and Cultural Professionalism\n## 6. Kritikaoke: On Ornamental Politics and Identity as a Skill\n## 7. The School as Real World: On Aspirations and Compromise\n# Epilogue: Ragequit\n## Acknowledgements\n## Bibliography\n## Index of Names","[{\"question\":\"What is the central premise of What Design Can’t Do?\",\"answer\":\"The book argues that design can become a smokescreen and that the disillusion of design reflects broader disillusionment in the world.\"},{\"question\":\"What topics are covered across the two main parts of the book?\",\"answer\":\"Part I focuses on expectations (such as panism, synthesis and autonomy, and power versus impotence). Part II turns to reality, including semi-automation, ornamental politics, identity as a skill, and compromise in professional or educational settings.\"},{\"question\":\"Who might benefit from reading this book beyond design specialists?\",\"answer\":\"The provided praise emphasizes that because design affects everyone, understanding where design fails helps readers see where it can still succeed.\"}]","What Design Can’t Do - Essays on Design and Disillusion | PDF",1791306218,548]