Beyond Intentionality: Biomimicry as More-Than-Human Design

• In Event: Social Sciences of the Artificial: Interrupting and Interrogating the Meanings of Design

Abstract

In the Western discursive tradition, the concept of design often connotes an idea or plan, dwelling within the mind of a human subject, that becomes materially realized through conscious action, such as sketching or engineering. According to the philosopher Vilem Flusser (1993), design, in its etymological roots, signifies intent and the “cunning” desire to reshape the natural world. This semantic connection between design and intentionality pervades the theoretical reflections of designers, from Herbert Simon’s emphasis on “forethought” and “goals” to Victor Papanek’s (1984) description of design as “the conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order.” So too in social scientific accounts of design does intent, “will” (Murphy and Throop 2010), and “directedness” (Duranti 2015) define the essential meaning of design (see Murphy 2015); consider Arjun Appadurai’s (2013) characterization of design as “deliberate human construction.” Based on three years of ethnographic fieldwork among sustainable designers who practice “biomimicry,” the imitation of biological forms within non-biological technologies, this paper argues that the widespread attention given to human intentionality fails to recognize this community’s endeavors to acknowledge the influence of nonhuman agencies on the design process. Analyzing both formal narratives of design and the practices these individuals employ to diminish their own will or “cleverness,” I contend that biomimicry offers an alternative mode of subjectivity predicated on the mitigation of human intentionality, and I conclude by advancing an expanded, more-than-human theory of design.

Author

• Richard Fadok, MIT