Designboom Launches 'Posthuman Utopias' Chapter on Designing With, Not On, the Planet
"Mutualism by Design," a segment of "Posthuman Utopias," examines architecture and design devoid of human focus. Launched at the 2022 Venice Art Biennale, it showcases Marguerite Humeau's creations—El Niño, Kuroshio, and La Niña—crafted from materials like seaweed, bone, and ocean plastic. Humeau posits that climate change could prompt animals to gain consciousness and develop rituals. This chapter aligns with the lead-up to COP31 and traces the evolution of anthropometric design from Vitruvius and Le Corbusier to Alvin Tilley’s 1950s datasets for Henry Dreyfuss. It also emphasizes significant environmental initiatives, such as Ecuador's 2008 rights of nature and New Zealand's 2017 legal recognition of the Whanganui River, envisioning future design partnerships with bacteria and algae.
Key facts
- Designboom published 'Mutualism by Design,' the opening editorial of its 'Posthuman Utopias' chapter
- Marguerite Humeau's Migrations (El Niño, Kuroshio, La Niña) was shown at the Arsenale during the 2022 Venice Art Biennale
- The sculptures were made from seaweed, bone and ocean plastic
- The chapter coincides with preparations for COP31, the thirty-first annual climate progress review
- Alvin Tilley drew the Josephine, Joe and Joe Jr datasets for Henry Dreyfuss in the 1950s
- Le Corbusier scaled his Modulor to a man six feet tall in the late 1940s
- Ecuador constitutionalized rights of nature in 2008 and New Zealand granted the Whanganui River legal personhood in 2017
- Kongjian Yu died last year after seeing sponge cities adopted as Chinese national policy
Entities
Artists
- Marguerite Humeau
- Vitruvius
- Le Corbusier
- Henry Dreyfuss
- Alvin Tilley
- Ian McHarg
- Rachel Carson
- Stewart Brand
- Buckminster Fuller
- Victor Papanek
- Christopher Stone
- James Lovelock
- Kongjian Yu
- Philippos Avramides
Institutions
- Designboom
- Venice Art Biennale
- Arsenale
- United Nations
- Whole Earth Catalog
- Whole Earth Index
- Turenscape
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- Ecuador
- New Zealand
- Whanganui River
- China
- Qian'an