An emerging multispecies design practice

Most design focuses on a single species of great apes. With my studio, I’ve been exploring how we might broaden our design practice to include the other 99% of species. This involves speculative proposals for sharing our cities more equitably with wildlife, as well as practical experiments designing ludic enrichment devices for zoo animals. By moving beyond a human-centred approach, we hope to contribute to efforts seeking a richer, more entangled multispecies world.

About the speaker:

Bill Gaver is Professor of Design and co-leader of the Interaction Research Studio at the University of Northumbria, London. With the studio, he has developed a portfolio of work over 25 years that includes research products, methodologies and conceptual insights for and about practice-based design research, with an emphasis on ambiguity, ludic design, and emergence.