Abstract

Deep Design Lab designs for and with nonhuman agents—animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms—to foster mutual benefit across all life. Addressing anthropogenic harm, their work challenges human-centric, exploitative design by integrating more-than-human ethics, AI, and sensing technologies.

They collaborate with diverse stakeholders, from birds and bacteria to rivers and urban systems, developing prosthetic owl nests, artificial trees, intelligent lighting, and ecological frameworks. Their research explores how nonhuman actors can shape design, what defines success amid uncertainty, and what constitutes fair life in novel ecologies. Through field-tested experiments, they contribute to both academic discourse and practical innovation.

Stanislav Roudavski

Stanislav Roudavski is an academic at the University of Melbourne and founder of Deep Design Lab, which explores more-than-human design. Collaborating with scientists, engineers, creative practitioners, and Indigenous scholars, he has led innovative research on nonhuman participation in ethics, design, computing, fabrication, and conservation. He has also directed numerous practical design projects, published in journals across multiple disciplines, and exhibited internationally. Recognised with multiple awards for research, teaching, and design, he earned a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he also conducted research. He has taught at MIT and practiced architecture across Europe.