The contemporary significance of modernist design ethics

The populist ethical concept of “design for the people” transformed the attitude of modernism towards machinery, ultimately contributing to the development of the modernist design style. However, as society progressed, this concept gradually deviated from its original intention and became an excessive pursuit of form, abandoning design ethics in the process. The development of modern design in China can be seen as a leapfrogging process, resulting in a gap in its historical trajectory. This paper aims to review and critically reflect on the ethics and purpose of modernist design, with the goal of stimulating a reevaluation and learning from the ethical principles of modern design. By doing so, it aims to provide a foundation of ethics to address the contemporary design dilemma.