Coined in 1866 by biologist Ernst Haeckel, “ecology” has expanded beyond a scientific field into a framework for understanding how living and nonliving systems interact, interrelate, and co constitute one another. This proseminar uses ecology to give MDes Ecologies students a shared foundation for thinking about design while articulating the emerging field of ecologies in design and its research methods.

We ask what “Ecologies in Design” means in practice: designing in ecologies, as ecologies, and with ecologies. We study key theories and practices to understand design in a deep, situated way–what Haeckel called a “condition of existence.” Guiding questions include: What ecologies are today’s construction practices, material choices, and tools producing? How do design projects relate to climate risk, resource extraction, and environmental injustice? What possibilities exist for adaptation, circularity, and regeneration, and what forms of design agency can we develop in response?

The proseminar situates ecologies in design within a broad, cross disciplinary framework linking living and non-living entities with their social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts. The plurality implied by “ecologies” is explored through five lenses: Environment, Materials, Climate, Systems, and Tools. We map the issues they encompass and the interrelated systems they form, moving between theory and practice, across fields and across scales–from material assemblies to territorial systems. Topics include the climate polycrisis; rights of nature and the tragedy of the commons; landscape urbanism and adaptation; urban, material, and construction ecologies; metabolism and circularity; environmental machines; and non-human agents.

The proseminar includes lectures by the instructor, GSD and Harvard faculty, and guest experts, supported by readings, discussions, and assignments. Students are expected to be fully present and engaged. Each student will help lead discussions, write short position essays, develop a design research project, and contribute to a collective Ecologies in Design Lexicon.