Co-Design for Urban Diversity
A speculative workshop that investigates the impact of crafts and indigenous knowledge within the design process, and how it can help design with and not against nature.
Co-investigating how we can design inclusive urban spaces for diverse humans and non-humans to coexist and thrive in.
Biodiversity in Urban Spaces
As more and more people move to urban spaces throughout the world, the spaces we inhabit need to be more diverse and inclusive. Not only to different human beings, but also to other flora and fauna who also inhabit our spaces. As our urban designs are traditionally created by designers within a closed box process, while all human and non-human citizens must learn to live with the results. I asked the question if we could design together with the different communities that inhibit the city.
The Co-Design Method
Co-designing is a method integrates the community or individuals whom we are designing for at all parts of the design process, and not just using their inputs at certain points of the design process. The designer creates the framework and facilitates the workshops or activities where the community has direct input and influence on the outcome.
“Co-design is about challenging the imbalance of power held by individuals, who make important decisions about others lives, livelihoods and bodies. Often, with little to no involvement of the people who will be most impacted by those decisions … co-design seeks to change that through prioritising relationships, using creative tools and building capability. It uses inclusive convening to share knowledge and power.” — Excerpt from Beyond Sticky Notes
Workshop Structure
Breaking down the design process into steps, we decided to work with different members of the community for each step of the workshop. For this first workshop,… with a cross-generational community: children ages 5-8 and their parents. We created 3 phases for this workshop: learn, create, and discuss.
Urban Biodiversity Cards
With the goal of. … we created 9 cards representing animals, plants, humans, or insect species that are known to exist within Barcelona’s ecosystem. Each card contained a key fact about the agent along with a simple prompt that guides the participant to empathize with and imagine from the perspective of the agent.
Phase 1: Pick a diversity card, and understanding of this agent and their needs, the group would move on to creating an environment, within the context of their urban setting, that this agent could live and flourish in.
Phase 2: The participants were then asked to create an environment they imagined from the perspective of the chosen agent. We provided papers, crayons, clays, sticks, and yarn for them to build with.
Phase 3: We went around to each of the groups to ask questions and learn about their design decisions. We prompted discussion between the parents and children to generate more critical thinking about their creations and designs.
Workshop Outcome & Insights
The workshop resulted in a series of speculative tools inspired by a global future scenario and indigenous traditions. Each participant drew from their cultural heritage and personal memories, reimagining traditional tools to respond to speculative future needs. Some creations were intricate, while others were simple, yet all carried deep cultural significance.
A key insight from the workshop was how storytelling played a crucial role in the design process. Coming from diverse cultural backgrounds, participants spent significant time describing their tools and sharing memories associated with them. This exchange not only deepened our understanding of each other's traditions but also reinforced the power of nostalgic rituals in shaping new ideas.
The act of physicalizing a vision through hands-on making sparked unexpected creativity, leading to an explosion of new ideas within the group. However, many participants initially struggled to connect their traditional tool or ritual with the specific crisis scenario assigned by their Anthropocene card. Interestingly, despite their speculative nature, most tools retained a strong resemblance to traditional forms—though often in exaggerated or abstracted ways.
The workshop highlighted how tactile engagement and shared cultural narratives can enhance future envisioning, demonstrating that the process of making is just as valuable as the final outcome.
Crafting the Anthropocene
A speculative workshop that investigates the impact of crafts and indigenous knowledge within the design process, and how it can help design with and not against nature.
A speculative workshop that investigates the impact of crafts and indigenous knowledge within the design process, and how it can help design with and not against nature.
The Anthropocene Conflict
Within the past few centuries, our world has become hyper-industrialized and digitized. We have lost the necessity to understand and work with our natural resources, seasons, and materials, as our ancestors once had. This disconnect, I believe, is at the core of our current global crises and as designers, we need to reestablish our connection and understanding of natural materials and processes in order to not exacerbate the environmental crises.
Craft Thinking Process
Craft Thinking is a method of integrating traditions of craft, embodied knowledge, and natural and material understanding back into the design process. It is an attempt to create design solutions which are more in tune with natural systems, with the understanding that we exist only in codependency with our surroundings and other non-human species.
Born in response to the ‘human centered design’ model, which singles out the human as the most important agent without considering the larger context of our ecosystems and processes, which we are dependent on. Craft Thinking is a framework that can help us design consciously with the knowledge of natural systems and lessen our footprint on the planet.
The key tools are thinking with the hands and learning directly from materials, drawing from indigenous and holistic knowledge systems, and using embodying and imagining as ways of understanding.
Workshop Structure
I designed and facilitated a workshop to test this … The participants were given activity cards, clay, and sculpting tools. The activity cards guided the group through a process of reflection, imagination and crafting, based on the ‘Craft Thinking’ framework.
Phase 1: Reflect on a traditional tool your grandparents (or ancestors) would use around a food ritual: preparing, preserving, cooking, eating.
I kept the prompt personal and open with the goal of generating discussion. Each participant talked about our memories from our childhood, our home countries, the tools themselves, but also the rituals and emotions around using it.
Phase 2: Reimagine the ways this ritual will change in the next hundred years, based on your Anthropocene card.
After reflecting on personal craft traditions, each participant choose an ‘Anthropocene Card’ at random. We used this card to reflect on the subject within the context of our tool and ritual. Participants were encouraged to think outside the box and come up with extreme scenarios.
Anthropocene Cards
Each of the ten Anthropocene Cards describe a unique crisis caused by human interventions; ie. over-farming, species extinction, nuclear wastes, and sea level rise.
Phase 3: Re-craft your tool based on the reimagined future ritual. What will change? What remains the same? What informs these changes?
In the final phase of the workshop, we took a moment to imagine future scenarios and discuss our visions of the future. I encouraged exaggeration as a tool to spark our imaginations. The final phase was to craft a new version of the traditional tool based on the future scenario each participant came up with. As we worked with our hands, we discussed our design decisions and their impacts.
Workshop Outcome & Insights
The workshop resulted in a series of speculative tools inspired by a global future scenario and indigenous traditions. Each participant drew from their cultural heritage and personal memories, reimagining traditional tools to respond to speculative future needs. Some creations were intricate, while others were simple, yet all carried deep cultural significance.
A key insight from the workshop was how storytelling played a crucial role in the design process. Coming from diverse cultural backgrounds, participants spent significant time describing their tools and sharing memories associated with them. This exchange not only deepened our understanding of each other's traditions but also reinforced the power of nostalgic rituals in shaping new ideas.
The act of physicalizing a vision through hands-on making sparked unexpected creativity, leading to an explosion of new ideas within the group. However, many participants initially struggled to connect their traditional tool or ritual with the specific crisis scenario assigned by their Anthropocene card. Interestingly, despite their speculative nature, most tools retained a strong resemblance to traditional forms—though often in exaggerated or abstracted ways.
The workshop highlighted how tactile engagement and shared cultural narratives can enhance future envisioning, demonstrating that the process of making is just as valuable as the final outcome.
Reimagining Tools: Designing for Intentional Change
John Culkin’s quote, “We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us,” highlights how tools influence both individual behaviors and cultural norms. However, most tools are designed by others, often misaligned with personal needs. This raises the question: How can we reimagine tools to intentionally shape desirable habits?
The 20th century American educator, John Culkin, wrote “We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us.” The tools we use and the ways we use them transform our behaviors on an individual level, and our cultures on a larger scale. However, most of our tools are designed by others with standards that may not align with our bodies or needs. As we use these tools and they form our habits, I formed the question: How can we reimagine our tools to intentionally and consciously form desirable habits?
Defining the Tool: Perception and Interpretation
By starting with a simple, open-ended prompt, I aimed to encourage participants to respond instinctively, capturing their first thoughts without overanalyzing. The survey posed questions designed to challenge perceptions of tools and their significance.
A total of 23 participants, aged 22 to 45, completed the survey, providing both drawings and explanations for their choices. As I analyzed the responses, distinct patterns emerged, revealing common interpretations of what constitutes a tool. Most participants—aside from a few exceptions—focused on utilitarian, hand-held objects like a pencil, highlighting a predominantly practical and functional understanding of the term. This insight helped me explore the perceptual boundaries and inherent limitations of how "tool" is commonly defined.
Analyzing Patterns and Exploring Habit Formation
After completing the surveys, I conducted follow-up interviews with each participant to explore their thought processes and reasoning behind their choices. As I analyzed their responses, I noticed recurring patterns in both their selections and the way they approached the concept of tools. To better understand these commonalities, I categorized the findings into distinct groups, highlighting shared themes and interpretations.
While the survey provided valuable insights into participants' existing perceptions of tools, understanding how new habits might form around the speculative tools developed would require long-term research and observation. Further study would be needed to explore how these tools could shape behavior over time and integrate into daily routines.
Key Insights
Over 60% of participants sketched hand-held tools like a pen or pencil, likely influenced by the fact that they were using these tools to complete the survey. This suggests an instinctive response, where immediate surroundings shaped their initial thought process.
When asked to envision a tool that merges with the body, most participants integrated it with the hand or arm, reinforcing the idea of tools as extensions of manual function.
Only one out of 21 participants chose a non-physical tool—dreams—challenging the conventional perception of what a tool can be.
When reimagining their tool for a 4-year-old or a 90-year-old, many participants scaled up their designs, modifying them to be larger and more accessible, highlighting adaptability as a key factor in tool design.
