Learning Objective
Students develop a holistic view of their role as an interrelated part of the natural world, and are prepared to design in a way that considers and nurtures the interdependence of all life. Students learn actionable strategies to incorporate empathy for living beings and natural ecosystems into their design processes.
Biological Strategy
The deep ocean is perhaps the only place on Earth where humans are not present. Except maybe for the plastic littering the ocean floor, the ocean is a place devoid of human activity. The beings who call this place home have no concept of humanity, and get along quite fine without a notion of what exists above them. In fact, they’ll likely continue to get along just fine until well after we’re gone. They operate in a space that is truly beyond human-centered.
Recognizing our true place in nature gives us new responsibilities. We discover that caring for the natural world is the same as caring for ourselves. It also opens up new opportunities: by synergizing with nature, instead of opposing it, we can release enormous creative potential. That is what launches a new era of design.”
- Bruce Mau in MC24, page 137
We think about resources like trees, oil; all that, right? But there’s also the aspect of labor, we extract so much labor from poor countries. Women in our country, unpaid grad students, we extract things. So, how do you instead build communities where it’s much more of a mutual benefit than it is extractive?”
- Design Professor, Interview #22