Human desires and needs are the foundation of the design. Naturally, we take a
user-centred design approach for granted. Design as a discipline evolved from the presupposition that humans are at the centre. Much like in anthropocentrism everything was understood from that perspective.
The mission of this IST Lab is to steer imagination and induce paradigm shift
from the bottom up of the design process. The students will be challenged to
design environments for the clients they pick from their natural surroundings,
think of a plant, fungi or bacteria.
The students will interact with the species of choice to find out about their needs
but also to learn about their environmental behaviours, such as harvesting solar
energy, oxygen production, eating habits, other interfaces. These will lay the
foundation for design concepts and physical translations, resulting in new forms
of inclusive architecture/environments that facilitate the needs of various urban
species. Students are asked to create a special living environment for these
small organisms, thinking of their natural needs as well as functions they can
carry and how those two can be looped in a sustainable way.
When we think of designing an environment or a space integrated into the urban
environment we rather focus on building elements than systems. There are too
many aspects that we take for granted such as existing infrastructures and even
particular cultural or political aspects. We focus on the integration of new
technologies or addressing some of the most urgent environmental issues in our
designs, but our approach still remains very fragmented and we lack an overall
perspective. Unfortunately, this attitude brought us to a profound environmental
crisis where often human-made structures do harm to the fragile balance of our
“Ironically, now that humans limit their growth and exploitation of natural
resources and nature comes to benefits from humans’ inactivity, it seems
such an extraordinary experience to us. Indeed it is the natural state of the
earth that animals and other life forms rule over the space of the planet.
We, as the top-tiered species, deserve our space but not to the point of
driving other species to the edge of the earth.”
Interspecies Village IST Lab offers a playground to exercise in inclusive and
holistic design approach and on a small scale try to learn nature’s wisdom.