Fletcher, K., 2025.
A larger, less humanised design community
| Output Type: | Chapter in a book |
| Publication: | Design Beyond the Human: Transdisciplinary Conversations about the Planet |
| Brief Description/Editor(s): | Caccavale, E., Hush, G. |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Visual Arts |
| URL: | www.bloomsbury.com/uk/design-beyond-the-human-9781350338098 |
Examining a practice that seeks to challenge human-centredness, this contribution shares and reflects on the writing process of making five short texts written as Earth beings. In writing as tree, sheep, stone, nettle and bird, common materials used in design: timber, wool, stone, plant fibre and feathers, are centres of action, awareness, voice and mind. These five texts are included, written deliberately without reference to human-related metaphor and experience as a way to dislodge human-centredness. They also lay the foundations for (and paraphrasing philosopher Val Plumwood), a larger, less humanised design community. The chapter also includes reflections on the effect of writing in this way, recognising the importance of sensory engagement and direct experience in establishing a changed, more responsible relationship between design and nature.