Livingness and living artefacts in design process

This chapter explores the concept of livingness in design, particularly through the creation of living artefacts – objects that integrate life-like qualities using natural, engineered, and programmable materials. By leveraging insights from several scholars exploiting livingness from different disciplines spanning from biology to design and human-computer interaction and the results of the Erasmus+ DATEMATS¹ project, the author proposes a refined framework for designing with living materials, grounded in the. Additionally, a discussion from semi-structured interviews with designers and researchers, reflecting on the challenges, opportunities, and implications of integrating livingness into design, follows. The study contributes to advancing sustainable and regenerative design practices by redefining interactions between humans, materials, and the environment. The framework presented has also been tested and validated in three design workshops.