The seductive choreography of space: Learning regenerative design strategies from (cyborg) flowers

Abstract

Unlike traditional net-zero emissions approaches, regenerative methods not only manage resources efficiently but also invigorate the environment. Architects focusing on regenerative design can draw inspiration from flowering plants, whose exceptional spatial strategies exemplify the choreography of ecosystem interactions that sustain fertility. The paper introduces the concept of “XENO,” an artistic installation comprising a robotic carnivorous plant, a mosquito, and a microbially-powered fuel cell, exhibited at CIVA, Brussels in 2023. This installation serves as an epistemic object, exploring complex energy system diversity, ethics, and interactions. XENO’s cyborgian elements encapsulate the intricate relationships and energy flows present in ecological architecture, highlighting the ethical concerns that exceed conventional eco-friendly practices, to explore life and death cycles, microbial decomposition, and material transformation within ecosystems — all of which form the basis for new life. In this way, flower structures provide a creative lens for ecological architects to integrate scientific knowledge, societal values, and experience design in ways that foster diverse and ethically resonant energy exchanges that contribute to a more balanced and environmentally conscious future.