Towards an Ecology of Design Praxis

Abstract

The notion of ecological design has rightly been around for decades, yet a genuine praxis of designing ecologically has been slow to emerge. We believe this is a problem about how we understand our perception of and relationship with the other, the rest of nature and ourselves. This paper attempts to synthesize a new epistemology of design which we refer to as an ecology of design and in which we try to understand the systemic relationships which constitute the human ecology of living and in which the practice of design forms an integral part. We use the ideas of some phenomenological philosophers and bio-cognitive scientists to explain the systemic dynamics of the ecology of design and, mainly through Humberto Maturana's notion of conversation, we suggest a new cognitive basis of design directed by human embodied and ecological emotion. We conclude with some implications for a praxis of ecological design with a special focus on an ethical domain of design. Downloaded by [University of Lethbridge] at 08

Call of Survival: Stigmergy for Matters of Concern

“…Designing living systems is an interconnected interaction of continuously evolving and self-organizing interventions for long-term vision of sustainable future. (Irwin, 2004;Salazar & Baxter, 2015) • Porous boundaries of problem: Complex problems of survival are not isolated, but rather resonate with other such complex problems exerting pressure on each other. Changes in one affect another, therefore, entangling an interconnected to seek independesnt resolutions is difficult.…”

“…Introspection has revealed that unintended consequences of designed artifacts have induced inequitable contestations, and unsustainable practices in our social and environmental ecology. (Baek, Meroni, & Manzini, 2015;Fallan, 2014;Margolin, 1996;Papanek, 1972;Salazar & Baxter, 2015) But, we are also aware of the potential and central role played by responsibly designed artifacts to achieve a sustainable (Escobar & Jacoby, 2009;Fallan, 2014;Fuad-luke, 2007;Fuad-Luke, 2009;Manzini, 2016;Margolin, 1996) future. This implies possible opportunities for framing processes for our own collective survival, and the central role played by human and nonhuman actors in the process of resolution.…”

Towards a landscape ecosophy. Interpreting how the Villarrica-Pucón urban system inhabitants in the Araucanía region of Chile perceive and relate with the dynamics of Landscape

“…Although the purpose of this article is not to explore the foundations of this new paradigm, especially as others such as Capra (1996Capra ( , 2004 and Wilber (2000a, b) have already done so, it is necessary to emphasize that ecological urbanism must be understood within this framework. Thus, there are four fundamental and cross-cutting aspects to these emergent lines of thinking, which are important for ecological urbanism (Salazar & Baxter 2015): 1) a criticism of the modern paradigm regarding its assumption of a transcendental reality that exists independently of human relations and experience; 2) that human perception is an embodied phenomenon, the knowledge point of departure and ways of inhabiting the world; 3) that the world where we live, or the phenomenological Being-in-the-World, is a dynamic relational process that is constantly changing, in which the being and the world are an inseparable phenomenon; and 4) that the wellbeing of humans and the rest of the biosphere are complementary (Primack et al, 2001).…”