Many design curricula fail to embed humans sufficiently within Earth’s systems, resulting in education that does not reflect ecological worldviews. This paper reflects on a sensory intervention presented at the Dialogical Bodies conference in April 2024, which explored Nurture, the foundational layer of Constructive Disruption, an Earth-centred curriculum framework published by the authors. Exploring the nexus between human waste streams (hair and nails) as an abundant matter different to common textile fibres and design practice, we observed and captured the audience’s wide sensory engagement with the artefacts presented and the conversations generated. This contextualised a subsequent reflective discussion between the authors in relation to their own experiences of working with these materials. The findings reveal a range of aesthetic, cultural and ethical challenges and opportunities for stakeholders such as educators, designers and end users in embracing these materials as alternative textile material feedstock for regenerative design.
Lettmann et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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