Inorganisms: An emergent approach to sustainability

Abstract

Inorganisms is a workshop that engages participants in a process of creation through reflective practice as a way of building and understanding complexity. It models a design process aimed at addressing large-scale global issues that asks designers to create solutions on a local scale, while forming interconnections to neighbouring places and designers. The workshop takes a pragmatic approach to learning through design and experience in order to come to a better understanding of complex, emergent systems. Participants are asked to design and create an inorganic organism from provided building blocks. Each inorganism communicates with other inorganisms, ultimately creating an emergent ecosystem of inorganisms – a small-scale model of local, connected solutions to global problems. No prior electronics experience is required, so experts and novices alike are encouraged to participate.