
Lost? Return to the motherland




What was it?
What came out of it were educational/conversation tools for future projects, in which I share some strategies of how we can achieve it, be it a physical product or a workshop.
The goal was to further shape my practice as a researcher and designer in a way that allows me to work with projects that are aligned with personal values of care, sustainability and diversity.
If we are creating something that will physically exist in the world, what are some guidelines (beyond existing regulations) to make sure we comply with the responsability of no-harm?
Some testing is still needed, but the goal is to share these tools so it can help other researchers/designers
Education is part of being able to design, and do research, in a way that prevents harm and promotes good
If you’re interested, check out their openings
What are the conditions needed for us (people and organizations) to thrive?
Life as a model
Biomimicry
from this
People as ends in themselves
Cartesian Split
Bacon
Structures that allow for flexibility and that enable purspose and health to be achieved through day-to-day work
trust
Context
Interdependency
Everything that is not the thinking thing is something that can be manipulated and used for the benefit of the thinking thing (men) as the thinking thing is superior.
Justification of exploitation of other human beings
Climate change
Reductionism
Loss of history
Justification of aggressive extraction of natural resources
people are not machines
connections
Information
supporting environment
Intensification of mechanistic view through industrial revolution and capitalism establishment
Loss of biodiversity due to industrialization
Hegemonic knowledge as the rule
Abundance
energy flow
quality of life
People live in a economic system that has a hold on their lives that is bigger than the energy that we have to try to change things
workers as gears in a well oiled machine
more importantly, are we also promoting quality of life for all?
Are our actions/behavior promoting quality of life?
are we braking cycles of harm?
decision making
equity lens
Health
behaviors
How do we create them?
purpose
White Supremacy
Slavery
What comes after? IS THERE AN AFTER?
(certain) Humans are separate from nature and superior to it in the sense that they possess ability to manipulate control over it.
Humanity is not separate from nature
Who has the ability/energy for organizing the disruption of a harmful system?
Organizations as machines
Life is an organized system capable of maintaining itself within a boundary of its own making
people as means to an end
Colonization
“Do you have the bandwidth for that?”
LIVING SYSTEM METAPHOR
Erasement of knowledge that differs from norm.
to this
how???
Consequences
Nature as a puzzle to be solved, its secrets unlocked for human benefit.
What it means to me
Rational scrutiny can refine the human condition, stripping away error in pursuit of truth.
Governance is an agreement crafted by rational agents, its legitimacy rooted in mutual consent.
For the purpose of this design lab, the focus was on mapping how we relate to our environment and how a shift in language and approach can create conditions that promote life at large.
Voltaire
The cosmos is a realm of order, governed by discoverable and applicable laws.
Locke
Newton
MACHINE METAPHOR
As any concept, it can mean a lot of different things depending on who you ask about it. I like that some of the first associations that we tend to do is with a salamandra, the self-repairing fish. BUT,
Europe 1500-1700
Origins
A three week program where people came together to develop their own projects through a regenerative approach.
Currently, one of my topics of research is degrowth and regenerative materials in industrial design (and overall material human creation)
What was developed while in it?
What do we mean by Regenerative Design?