Eight More-Than-Human Designs Transforming Our World

While bats serve as important pollinators, their ecological significance is often overlooked. BAT CLOUD is an installation developed by architect and associate professor at the University of Buffalo (USA) Joyce Hwang that aims to combat this aesthetics of indifference. The hanging canopy of vessels are designed to allow bats to enter and inhabit its uppermost portion, while the lower volume of each vessel is filled with soil and native plants. The project offered onlookers a chance to catch sight of bats or other wildlife emerging from the habitation vessels.

Photo credit: Joyce Hwang

Alongside bee-friendly planting, bee houses can be a simple way to support the declining bee population. The Bee Brick, created by UK- based design studio Green & Blue, are the same size as regular bricks but integrate a series of narrow openings like the ones where solitary bees usually nest. Made of reclaimed concrete, the brick is solid at the back and has moulded cavities of various sizes, where the bees can lay their eggs, sealing the entrance with mud or chewed-up vegetation. 

Photo credit: Green&Blue

Ever wondered what it’s like to see the world through a horse’s eyes? Led by Alan Hook, Associate Head of Ulster University’s School of Communication and Media (UK), Equine Eyes is a speculative design project which rethinks human–animal relationships. Using a custom-built headset that mimics equine vision, the project challenges anthropocentric assumptions and fosters embodied empathy for nonhuman species.

Photo credit: Alan Hook

“Flowers evolved to serve insects, and insects evolved to serve flowers simultaneously.” A project by Matilde Boelhouwer, Insectology: Food for Buzz presents a series of five artificial, maintenance free flowers that turn rain into sugar water and serve as an emergency food source for urban pollinators. By restoring nourishment and habitat in concrete-dominated cityscapes, the project aims to reverse insect decline and redesign public spaces to support biodiversity.

Photo credit: Janneke van der Pol

MARS II is a next-generation artificial-reef system engineered by Australian design firm Reef Design Lab to restore underwater habitats and support declining coral ecosystems. Its modular, diver-deployable units can be assembled without heavy machinery,  and each unit is designed with surface textures and geometry that encourage coral attachment and natural marine recruitment. 

Photo credit: Reef Design Lab

Taiwanese designer Cheng-Tsung Feng’s Nesting Plan explores the relationship between architecture and the natural world through animal nest-building techniques. The latest installation in the series included four floating pinecone-shaped wooden shelters designed to provide extreme weather protection to ducks.

Photo credit: FIXER Photographic Studio

“Octopuses often pick up stones and seashells on the ocean floor. I decided to make some pieces of sculpture for them.” Japanese artist Shimabuku has long been fascinated by octopuses, using his work as a way to engage with the highly intelligent creatures in playful and inquisitive ways. In Sculptures for Octopuses, featured earlier this year as part of Design Museum’s More than Human exhibition, he created glass balls in different colours and sizes for them to play with, offering a powerful example of how humans can honour nonhuman forms of enjoyment.

Photo credit: Shimabuku, Air de Paris, Barbara Wien

A collaborative project created by Carolina Almeida and Paige Perillat-Piratoine, two alumni of Fab Lab Barcelona’s Master in Design for Emergent Futures (MDEF), The Interspecies Tarot explores the intricate ethics of interspecies work. Each card serves as a transformative tool to navigate the complex relationships between humans and other species, opening pathways to understand how we relate to the nonhuman world. 

Photo credit: Fab Lab Barcelona