Designing for Interdependence: A Poetics of Relating

Designing for Interdependence challenges the dominant design paradigm and proposes an ecocentric mode of designing that prioritizes a harmonious relationship between all life forms. Martin Ávila develops the notion of alter-natives to expose the alterity of artificial things and their potential to participate in the sustainment of natural environments. He provides methods for rewilding and maintaining cultural and biological diversity, and illustrates the political-ecological implications of an ecocentric paradigm through real-life project case studies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 20 October 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Designing for Interdependence is a groundbreaking book that challenges the dominant design paradigm that centers humanity in its practice. Instead, it proposes an ecocentric mode of designing that prioritizes a harmonious relationship between all life forms that share our planet. This book explores the practice of designing and its capacity to relate (or not) to beings of all kinds, including humans and other species, in ways that are life-affirming.

Recognizing the power differentials that exist and the responsibility that comes with them, author Martín Ávila develops the notion of alter-natives. Alter-natives expose the alterity of artificial things and their potential to participate in the sustainment of natural environments. Ávila proposes a design practice that encompasses humans, artificial things, and other-than-human species in a poetics of relating. This practice provides methods that support the rewilding necessary for maintaining cultural and biological diversity and the stabilization of planetary dynamics.

The book features real-life project case studies that illustrate some of the political-ecological implications of an ecocentric paradigm. These case studies can help us imagine alternative modes of relating to local environments and alternative modes of inter-species cohabitation. By avoiding dualistic thinking and the dichotomies that harm-benefit, construction-destruction, natural-artificial, and life-death, Ávila pursues the work of caring for how our mattering through design can become constructive in creating more-than-human ecologies.

In conclusion, Designing for Interdependence is a thought-provoking and transformative book that offers a new perspective on design and its role in creating a more sustainable and harmonious world. By prioritizing the interdependence of all life forms and embracing an ecocentric approach, we can design for a future that is both prosperous and sustainable.

Weight: 396g
Dimension: 136 x 206 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350183742