Bio-Neorealism or Design from within

“we should consider any design experience as a natural extension of peoples’ life, regaining proximity to the real, both aesthetically and behaviorally”

read the academic paper here

Designing From Within stands for a specific area of interest and a related new design approach characterized by endogenous and endemic processes. Starting from a culture studies theoretical framework, in which anthropology intertwine with artifacts’ social life, in this research project, I'm investigating the possibility to think of designed objects as a direct and pure representation of humans’ activities (=endogenous), and/or rooted in specific geographical and cultural contexts (=endemic). To facilitate the passage from the design’s problematic past to a brighter responsible future and switch to a better and more sustainable scale-weight-time paradigm, we suggest adopting the biological terms endogenous and endemic as principles for just design practices. Endemic generically defines something “native”; in the case of diseases, for instance, is about their persistence in a particular geographical area or human population while for spices can refer to their unique presence in one region and nowhere else in the world. The term Endogenous, which is generally defined as “from within”, describes what is produced or found within living organisms like, for example, hormones, genes ,or viruses but it can also refer to the specific characteristic of a place as far as topography, climate, or geography. The use of a biological framework is motivated by the idea that a sort of Lex Naturalis (Natural Law), intended here in its laic exception, should drive design decisions in a way to create as little friction as possible between the natural environment and human activities. Design processes, materials, and tools should come, as much as possible, from within the context we are working in and the scale, weight, and time of any design solution should be tailored to that specific framework. With the goal to reinstate design processes close to people and into natural cycles, we have decided to look at the specific context of viticulture and wine production to test our assumptions and reflect on the results of our quest.

Bio-plastic experimentations

Bio-plastic harvesting baskets

Paper making / wine labels