Circudyne

Mid-century poster illustration from a boardwalk: a single navy book on sunlit planks, a wooden roller coaster's peaks and dips rising against a teal sky, calm sea beyond.

Industrial Dynamics

The summer reading series arrives at the wellspring: Jay Wright Forrester's 1961 book, the bedrock beneath circularity's systems thinking.

Mid-century travel-poster illustration: first-person view across a grass tennis court, a single closed book resting on the near sideline, citrine sunlight and an open teal sky, no people.

Thinking in Systems

Donella Meadows built an exquisite analytical toolkit, then told us exactly where its utility ends. The future can only be envisioned, not analyzed.

Mid-century illustration from a lake dock: three stacked books in the foreground, two citrine canoes on still water, and a row of yellow canvas tents among pines across the shore.

Circularity Summer Camp

The founding texts of circularity — Benyus, McDonough & Braungart, and Stahel — read together. Three merit badges earned, and one still on the table.

Mid-century travel-poster illustration of a New England beach from the reader's view: a single navy book on pale sand, a small sloop on the teal sea, a robin's egg blue sky.

The Circular Economy: A User's Guide

The summer reading season opens with Walter Stahel's introductory text — a book that reaches for what's still missing: a longing for the circular economy.

A gouache of an Edwardian country-house lawn: a round mid-century theater rotunda rises over the grass, dwarfing the empty wicker chairs and tea table; a manor in the distance.

The Carousel of Plenty

The season's real subject turned out to be the good life — and the kind of luxury that comes from a better place than scarcity.

Mid-century-style painting of a sunny country-house lawn: a silver flying saucer hovers over the grass beyond an empty wicker chair and a set tea table, a manor house in the distance.

The Circular Century — So What

Clarke said that whether or not we are alone in the universe, the prospect is terrifying. This season's final letter asks what would make us worthy of the answer.

Illustration of an Edwardian country lawn at golden hour: a tea table and croquet set on the grass, a wind turbine turning behind the manor house, and a rocket rising in the distance.

Coping with Abundance

Every age of plenty before this one was fleeting — squandered by an economy that profits from more. The Circular Century is the first abundance built to stay. Which leaves only the question of how to cope with it.

Mid-century-style painting of a sunny street: a man bikes past a small driverless shuttle while people sit at a café, low pastel buildings and a cypress tree behind.

Personal Mobility

The right vehicle for every trip, owned by no one in particular — how the Circular Century unbundles mobility from the car in the driveway.

An ornate animal-shaped coffee spout pours dark coffee into a white cup on a citrine yellow counter, with a hint of an automat's little glass food windows behind. Mid-century poster style.

The Commissary

What if the best place in town were the one we all went to? The Commissary is the Automat reborn — good food made special, and within everyone's reach.

Small curated wardrobe in morning light: citrine knit jacket, sage blouse, charcoal sweater, coral scarf on wooden hangers, folded sweaters on a wooden bench, canvas shoes lined up below.

The Curated Wardrobe

What if your wardrobe just got better instead of bigger? The Curated Wardrobe is clothier as tailor at scale — so anyone can dress smart.

A coral red cordless drill stands upright on a counter at a tool library, citrine yellow wall and pegboard of hand tools behind. Mid-century illustration style.

Something Borrowed

The performance economy comes home.

A painterly still life in warm afternoon light: a worn blue leather-bound folio, a well-loved tan baseball glove, and a small handheld device resting together on a sunlit table.

The Personal Companion

A device fitted to you on your first day of school, that grows with you across a lifetime. What consumer electronics looks like when it lasts.

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