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Accepted manuscript

Beyond Archetype: From Industrial Design to Biodesign in the Age of Artificial and Biological Intelligence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2026

C. Fernandes*
Affiliation:
KAIROS Lab, FERN Designs, Boston, 02127, MA, USA
Y. Michel
Affiliation:
College of Visual & Performing Arts, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 13204, NY, USA Symbiosis Project, YAMi Space, Syracuse, 13204, NY, USA
*
Author for correspondence. Email: carolynfernandes6@gmail.com
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Abstract

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Biodesign is often framed as an extension of industrial design through biological materials, processes, or aesthetics. This paper argues instead that biodesign represents a fundamental, epistemic, and civilizational shift, comparable in magnitude to the Industrial Revolution that shaped industrial design and its pedagogy. Drawing on Alexander Manus conception of the designer as a cognitive agent, the paper reframes design as the structuring of meaning and relationships rather than the production of objects. As artificial intelligence and biological intelligence increasingly converge, the designers role shifts from innovator to co-evolver: a mediator of adaptive systems operating across temporal and ecological scales. Situating biodesign within an emerging biotechnical revolution, the paper critiques industrial archetypes in design education and proposes a post-archetypal pedagogical framework grounded in systems thinking, more-than-human ethics, and planetary cognition. Biodesign thus emerges not as a style, but as the design paradigm of a biotechnical age.

Information

Type
Full Paper: Biodesign Conference
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press