Degrowth as aspiration

The end of efficiency and why that may be a good thing

Collina Strada is one of the thirteen designers that Gucci featured on its new destination, GUCCI Vault. Strada is one of the emerging New York designers (Telfar is another) who put sustainability and community ahead of fast growth.

Starting with Max Weber and Frederick Taylor, efficiency has been the ultimate business goal. Production, distribution, synthesizing workflows, and managing resources and employee output have all been held to the same standard of maximizing labor efficiency and minimizing slack.

Drive for efficiency shaped how we work, live, and entertain ourselves. Open-office plans, despite their collaboration mantras and Kombucha taps, have primarily been productivity tools to pack as many people per square foot as possible. Restaurants followed the same approach of space utilization and speedy turnarounds. I overheard more strangers’ conversations in New York City restaurants than I care for. Put a fork down, and there’s a check beelining, for “whenever you are ready.” Old people found themselves stuffed in efficiency-driven industrialized care. Production perfected cost-effectiveness at scale. Thanks to it, certain industries, like retail, started over-manufacturing. Airlines, in order to make each of their trips as efficient as possible and to squeeze more money from passengers…