ABSTRACT
Modern design has been pivotal in the capitalist system’s expansion. This involvement has sculpted the ontological, epistemological, and methodological foundations of designing. Hence, the critical question arises: How might we navigate beyond the anthropocentric maraña through design? Echoing Latour, how do we shift from designing as humans in the Holocene to crafting as earthbounders in the Anthropocene? To assume the role of earthbound designers, we are called to conceptualize categories for imagining and crafting worlds. As designers, we harness the potential to spearhead this transformation through critical creation and experimentation, fostering creative experiences that design modes conducive to the well-being of vibrant bodies and communities. In this chapter, we shall explore three more-than-human encounters, the attributes, and the relational conditions that pave the way for envisioning and making pragmatic agreements for inter-species coexistence. As design researchers, we perceive these encounters as more-than-human prototyping – moments of cosmopolitical diplomacy that might unveil keys to crafting worlds that embody Buen Vivir (sumak kawsay).
