Author(s)/Creator(s)

Andrea De Haro
Charlotte Bascombe

Document Type

Thesis, Senior

Degree

B. ARCH

Date

Spring 5-2023

Keywords

Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Chernobyl, Canada, Ukraine, radioactive, organisms, environmental, exploitation, genetic adaptations, AI, MidJourney, degradation, National Geographic, species

Language

English

Disciplines

Environmental Design

Description/Abstract

Paradigms of the Post Natural is a thesis that utilizes imagery and storytelling to critique present practices of design which disregard the protection of our environment. We are interested in current environmental degradation characteristics of the era of the anthropocene where human-centric design methods have manipulated and exploited the ecosystem in which we coexist with other organisms as destructive pursuits of human development. Our inspiration developed from a shared interest in the conservation of non-human organisms. Specifically, we are interested in ecocides, areas in which animals are forced to adapt as they experience the human destruction of their habitat. Examining areas of environmental exploitation has made us aware of the extreme genetic adaptations that species are undergoing.

In order to depict these unimaginable environments that are a result of human destruction, we chose to collaborate with artificial intelligence (AI). Throughout this thesis, we imagined how these ecosystems and the accompanying organisms would look if we continued to practice design and construction the way we do currently. Our thesis depicts the possible evolution of these environments and the species affected. The atlas we produced was devised to mimic a National Geographic issue in the year 2550.

We hypothesize that in 2550 every square mile of Earth will continue to thrive, despite extreme ecological conditions. By speculating on imagined ecosystems, we challenge present practices which contribute to climate change and environmental degradation. This thesis aims to present a future world created by humans, determined to exhaust natural resources and ignore environmental signs of change.

Additional Information

Thesis Group: Dissimulating and Disheveling Matter

Advisors: Jean-Francois Bedard, Britt Eversole, Julie Larsen

Source

submission

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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