Design for, with, and by All Forms of Life

The Department of Design will host the evening talk by Stanislav Roudavski (University of Melbourne, Deep Design Lab).

The event, organised by the Design Intelligences research group in collaboration with the PhD Program in Design, will take place on March 13, 2025 at Workshop Space Tre, Building B3, at 6:30 p.m., and will be followed by an “aperitivo”.

Design for, with, and by All Forms of Life 

Deep Design Lab designs for and with nonhuman agents—animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms—to foster mutual benefit across all life. Addressing anthropogenic harm, our work challenges human-centric, exploitative design by integrating more-than-human ethics, AI, and sensing technologies. We collaborate with diverse stakeholders, from birds and bacteria to rivers and urban systems, developing prosthetic owl nests, artificial trees, intelligent lighting, and ecological frameworks. Our research explores how nonhuman actors can shape design, what defines success amid uncertainty, and what constitutes fair life in novel ecologies. Through field-tested experiments, we contribute to both academic discourse and practical innovation.

Bio
Stanislav Roudavski is an academic at the University of Melbourne and founder of Deep Design Lab, which explores more-than-human design. Collaborating with scientists, engineers, creative practitioners, and Indigenous scholars, he has led innovative research on nonhuman participation in ethics, design, computing, fabrication, and conservation. He has also directed numerous practical design projects, published in journals across multiple disciplines, and exhibited internationally. Recognised with multiple awards for research, teaching, and design, he earned a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he also conducted research. He has taught at MIT and practiced architecture across Europe.

To attend the lecture, you must register by filling out this form.