Interfacing with Nature
Even before the Internet of Things becomes reality, the Internet of Animals is already proclaimed. Big animal data is collected in real time, and people follow individual wolves, birds and sharks online. At the same time, nature moves physically into the urbanised areas of people.
Since the industrial revolution there has been a growing separation between nature and the human living environment. Now, with digital technologies, there are new possibilities and attempts to bridge these separations again and making contact.
Does this technological bridge imply a de-sensualisation when experiencing nature? How could such experiences look like? Can we still escape into a nature that has become transparent? And what would the animals get out of it?
In this class we look at the different forms of interaction between people and nature, at forms of plant communication, go on expeditions to explore forest and urban eco systems, set up electro-botanical experiments and make contact.
Class blog
FH Potsdam / Design dept., spring term 2015
Urban Nature Street Rights
Charting social microcosms, earthworm kingdoms, nature states and botanical power structures down the street… MORE
Connect the Plots
A workshop with environmental engineering students as part of the field work of the Institute for Ecology, Berlin University of Technology… MORE
Street Rights Map
A workshop on charting social microcosms, personal kingdoms, nature states and power structures down the street… MORE
Learning from Plants: Aeronautics
Studying the flight technology of plants to think up and build practical and imaginary structures for air travel, wind powered flying apparatuses, catapulting machines, pollen based mailing systems, floating leaf garments… MORE
Visual Voltage Workshop
Through Design we can turn an invisible activity of energy consumption into a process that can be experienced, thereby potentially altering awareness and leading to a change in behaviour. This workshop brings together a group of professional designers to reflect, discuss and develop ideas for making energy consumption more visible and tangible. MORE…
Metabolic Toys
This workshop explores how products are part of the ecosystem too as they take shape, transform, decay and turn into new resources. Students will take up the challenge of tracing toy lives, playing with plants, and designing for transformation and benign toy deaths. MORE…
Towns R Us Playing on Public Objects
Public objects are mostly considered by their functional properties, sometimes by their aesthetic qualities and happen to escape people’s consciousness during their daily routines. However, these objects often act as mediators between strangers and create curious social situations: think of escalators, traffic lights, cameras, benches, revolving doors, but also trees or water wells. This is a workshop about re-purposing public objects and modifying their rules of interaction. MORE…
Human Powered Objects How could people become their own renewable source of energy?
A growing number of everyday objects are now fitted with electronic features, making them dependent on standby energy sources. Mobile devices, toys, alarm clocks use up mountains of batteries each year. While technology so far has been developed towards a state of minimum human effort, this workshop now explores the potential of using the human body itself as a renewable power source. MORE…
Politics of Play Enabling collaborative networks in public places
Politics of Play is a collaborative workshop inviting artists, sociologists, designers, game designers, urban planners… PEOPLE to come together in an expedition. The purpose of this journey is to foster collaborative networks in the city through the medium of play. MORE…
UNESCO Toys Workshop Toys for children’s rehabilitation
During this two week workshop we visited different childcare facilities in Yerevan to develop new toys for children with special needs.
The symposium, workshop and exhibition were a joint effort of Studio-College of the National Aesthetics Center, the Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute (OSI), World Vision Armenia, Fördern durch Spielmittel – Spielzeug für behinderte Kinder e.V. and UNESCO Armenia. MORE…
