Designing from the plants' perspective. A field case study in urban forest of “La Goccia”

Designing by engaging more-than-human agents such as plants is a complex chal-lenge, as they have long been regarded as "ontologically inferior" resources pri-marily serving human needs. Emerging studies in the field of Plant Neurobiology are now breaking down knowledge barriers, gathering extraordinary data that recognize plant actions and behaviors guided by a distinct form of intelligence. Considering this breakthrough findings, this paper describes a 10-day workshop involving 52 international design students from Politecnico di Milano University that focused on experiencing plants in a former industrial area within the city borders. Through the years, this area has gone from desolation to a vibrant urban forest where plants and other life forms have flourished without human re-striction. With the contribution of botanists and local forest experts, the work-shop was conceived as a journey with the ambition of providing participants with an opportunity to design for plants as active stakeholders.