What do we need to learn in order to work with nature?
We need to learn that not everything is available any time, anywhere. We need to step away from deluded ideas of production and growth, and become aware of what is truly necessary. We need to learn that natural phenomena are often unpredictable, and always transitory. As land artist Andy Goldsworthy so beautifully demonstrates, it’s perfectly possible to create design using only what is available.
Do we need to redefine “nature”?
If we see ourselves as part of nature and not as separate from it, we will treat both nature and ourselves with more respect. Natural resources are limited. We have already overstepped the boundaries of nature for too long, because it is technically possible and because we do not see ourselves as part of nature. We are sawing the branch we are sitting on instead of seeing ourselves as the branch. Just because things are possible doesn’t mean they’re necessary.
How will design change if we increasingly move to thinking in terms of material cycles in the future?
Natural materials that grow without human intervention are part of a waste-free cycle. That cycle can be a role model for responsible product design, in which the end of a product is the start of something new. The design process needs to focus on the durability, recyclability and reusability of the materials it uses, adopting them as its fundamental principles.
Natural materials that grow without human intervention are part of a waste-free cycle.