Chapter 8 - Interspecies Design

Summary

The design of the artificial – including products, infrastructure, land-use and information – is directly responsible for the onset of the Anthropocene. Yet, there is insufficient understanding of the mechanisms that can support design in addressing the resulting crisis. One constraining factor is a misapprehension of designers as hired hands of commerce. Design’s impact and potential are much broader. Humans make plans in all fields. Other lifeforms, including animals and plants, engineer and build too. All live with the outcomes. This chapter connects the discourse in design with literature in environmental humanities and natural sciences. It analyses cities as examples of modified habitats that are simultaneously biological and cultural. ‘Human-centred design’ is useful in inviting the perspectives of affected humans, but it fails to include non-human interests. In response, this chapter highlights the existence of non-human cultures and offers ‘interspecies design’ as a useful frame for the preservation or reconstitution of equitable habitats.