WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES An exploration into the space between human and non-human centred perspective.

Abstract

With this project, I am exploring the space between human and non-human centred perspectives. Through an interdisciplinary approach to research, I will adopt and translate theories and approaches, found in environmental psychology, landscape architecture, philosophy, and anthropology, in the hope of helping invoke new ways of thinking – one of care and co-existence with human and non-human beings. In the context of this project, by the term non-human, I am addressing the unseen things, whether living or nonliving, which are currently rendered invisible within the common design and progression paradigms. Through interviews with professionals and evaluations of material experiments and the interactions with them, I will develop and make a form that becomes an invitation to a space; a woven space, which invites interaction, fascination and restoration, as a way of helping us reorientate our perspective. The intended purpose of the design is not only about the physical form of the object, but about the types of cultivated and unexpected interactions that take place because of it. Through the documentation and evaluation of the process and interactions, I will conclude on whether this human-centred approach can help bridge the gap between non-human ways of thinking.