ABSTRACT
In hindsight, human centredness and illusions of human control have persistently shaped design’s many attempts to relate to nature. The ‘super-situatedness’ of several of the contributions is certainly a turn from standardisation and perfection. It also creates a learning loop where inspiration, exploration, material, processing and use feed each other. Several contributions highlight the friction of design and nature relations, both historically and moving forward. They point out that there is risk, bite, grit and often an awkwardness to these relationships, and that exploring design and nature also requires examining design and nature relations within ourselves. Taking design’s relationship with nature seriously, in terms of leaving behind power imbalances, requires entering it as a mature individual, and considering nature a mature partner in dialogue and dance. Fundamentally accepting a paradigm of participation also means accepting a relinquishing of control so as to give space for voices of more stakeholders.
