Symbiotic Design Framework Book Presentation

Symbiotic Design Framework

The Symbiotic Design Framework introduces design as a "living system" rather than a closed discipline. Inspired by biological concepts such as autopoiesis and symbiosis, it positions design as adaptive, relational, and self-maintaining, embedded within ecological and cultural networks. This approach redefines design beyond isolated acts of problem-solving or object-making, instead recognizing its systemic responsibilities and far-reaching consequences. The framework challenges the field to move away from superficial sustainability narratives and towards practices that regenerate, repair, and sustain life. It is not a new method or style but a shift in perception: to see design as inherently interconnected, entangled with time, history, and the more-than-human world.

Rethinking Design from within

Design cannot be transformed from the outside; it must be rethought from within its own history, practices, and failures. The framework begins by questioning the dogmas that have shaped modern design—its complicity with industrial capitalism, its emphasis on novelty, and its reduction of design to consumption and styling. By engaging critically with design’s past, it exposes the assumptions and exclusions that continue to define its present. This rethinking is not about abandoning design but about reimagining its purpose and values: from linear growth to circularity, from extraction to reciprocity, from innovation for its own sake to responsibility for long-term planetary health. In this sense, rethinking from within means cultivating humility, self-critique, and the ability to ask questions that destabilize the field’s most entrenched habits.

A systemic approach to destroy Design’s actual model and build a better world in the meantime.

The current dominant model of design is no longer adequate. Rooted in extraction, planned obsolescence, and market-driven logic, it accelerates ecological collapse and deepens inequality. The Symbiotic Design Framework proposes a systemic approach to dismantle this model—not through rejection, but through transformation. By integrating insights from systems theory, philosophy, and biology, it outlines how design can evolve into a practice of care, responsibility, and regeneration. Destroying the current model means confronting its complicity while building alternatives in the meantime: practices that reduce harm, foster resilience, and strengthen interdependence between humans and the more-than-human world. The framework thus invites designers to act as facilitators of systemic change, creating conditions for more equitable and sustainable futures.