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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Floral strategies for regenerative design

ethical considerations related to the treatment of creatures ultimately, at the end of an organic agent’s life, it is actively
and with respect to the potential unintended consequences broken down by microbes at the base of the biosphere,
on ecosystems such as the loss of pollinators. and its components transformed into substrates that can
re-enter the webs of life. For regenerative architectures to
4. Conclusions promote additional benefits to local surroundings in ways
Natural flowers encapsulate complex, biodiversity- that exceed the routine promises of resource circularity
promoting systems that act as sites of negotiation between and energy conservation through net-zero targets which
different actors in ecosystems. Each approaches the space are sought by sustainable systems, they must go beyond
with the intention of deriving a range of experiences from a rhetoric of market transactions that involve matter
food to sex, rapture (scent, pheromones), wonder, and and energy exchange; they must ethically engage with
beauty. Beyond functionality and material exchange, the more complex exchanges that traverse the cycles of life
experience of the flower structure is complex invoking and death through composting microbes and managed
contradictory paradigms that may be lethal to a visitor material transformation to bring regenerative benefits for
(corpse flower) or may create selective pressures that ecosystems.
transform the nature of the pollinator (orchids and their Flower structures provide a means for creatively
pollinators). exploring this interconnectedness. The ethical dimensions
XENO interrogated some of these complex principles of energy systems, and ecosystem dynamics within real-
to consider spatial engagement and simple choreography world energy systems, are core concerns in this research.
through a model ecosystem. It comprised a carnivorous Orchestrating scientific knowledge, societal values, and
robot plant, a mosquito, and a benthic fuel cell. The experience design in the development of regenerative
artistic work is here positioned as an epistemic object, design, an ecological architect must engage more diffuse
aiming to explore the diversity, complexity, and ethics of and ethically engaged forms of energy exchange if our
energy systems. While this scenario has poetic elements, species is to contribute to the urgent need for re-enlivening
being positioned as a performative work within CIVA’s our habitats. By embracing diversity, complexity, and
gallery space, each component represents a distinct entity ethics within energy systems, regenerative architecture can
with its own characteristics, needs, and interactions. This enhance the natural world and promote a more balanced
diversity highlights the complexity and interconnectedness and environmentally conscious future.
of ecological systems while demonstrating the intricate
relationships and flows of energy and matter, that are Acknowledgments
orchestrated by carnivorous robot plants and spotlights This work is supported by funds from the Department
the mixed motivations and transactions that take place of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, KU Leuven,
within other types of flowers. Like the work’s performative Ghent, Belgium, and also from the Mi-Hy EIC Pathfinder
presence in CIVA’s gallery space, ecological architecture Challenges project.
embraces a holistic approach where each component
of a building represents a distinct entity with its own Funding
characteristics, needs, and interactions. This recognition This work is supported by funds from the Department
of diversity within architectural systems underscores the of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, KU Leuven,
understanding that ecological systems are intricate and Ghent, Belgium, and also from the Mi-Hy EIC Pathfinder
interconnected. By highlighting the intricate relationships Challenges project.
and flows of energy and matter through the presence of a
carnivorous robot plant, and the mixed motivations and Conflict of interest
transactions occurring within other types of flowers, the
work emphasizes the orchestration of sustainable energy The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
systems, where renewable energy sources and efficient Author contributions
technologies work in harmony to minimize environmental
impact. The ethical questions raised by XENO do not Conceptualization: Rachel Armstrong, Rolf Hughes, and
simply regurgitate ecological architecture’s emphasis Anna Vershinina
on responsible design practices such as minimizing Methodology: Rachel Armstrong, Rolf Hughes, and Anna
resource consumption, using eco-friendly materials, and Vershinina
prioritizing the well-being of occupants and the broader Writing – original draft: Rachel Armstrong and Rolf Hughes
environment. Its complex exchanges are intrinsic to the Writing – review and editing: Rachel Armstrong and Rolf
cycles of life and death within the natural world where Hughes

Volume 5 Issue 4 (2023) 9 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1006