Réka Sára Mezei, Kamila Anna Dzierzak, Patricia Csobánczi, Amalia de Götzen, and Olivia Thomassen Harre
Relationality implies that our connections with other living beings and things shape how we understand the world. A relational understanding is especially important during times of fragmentation, as relationality breaks with dominant Western ontologies that can carry traces of extractivist histories. While relational approaches are increasingly integrated into design practice, they often remain theoretical. Deepening our relational understanding means also experimenting in our design practice with tools and methods that can foster coexistence and embrace plural ways of being. In this workshop, we aim to actively explore, identify, reflect on, and strengthen our understanding of relationality in design practice by facilitating an exchange between design practitioners using the Tree of Being tool. Developed by Savannah Keith Gress and Victor Udoewa, the Tree of Being is framed as a radical participatory tool and offers a tangible way to make the onto-epistemic layers of design practices salient. In the process, participants will recognise and question the dominant logics in their design practice. Furthermore, through the workshop, participants will share practices that help pluralise design ontologies and will collectively envision how to make space for more diverse voices. As an outcome of the workshop, participants will leave with a framework that can help them understand and approach plurality while deepening, uncovering, and recovering relational ways of designing.
Keywords: relationality, design research, design tool, ways of being, ways of knowing