24/04/2026
We are not a fixed being. We are a living system in constant exchange with the world.
Ecologically speaking, the “self” is porous. The human body is an ecosystem composed of around 37 trillion human cells and roughly 39 trillion microorganisms living in dynamic symbiosis. These communities sense, respond, and adapt to the world, often before we consciously do. Health, in this context, is not a fixed state but an emergent condition of balance within this complex system.
What we absorb from the inside (through what we eat) and from the outside (through what we put on our skin) both play a role in shaping this equilibrium. Skin, our largest organ, is not a passive barrier but an active interface: a site of exchange, regulation, and communication between the body and its environment.
This reframes how we think about design. What we wear does not simply cover the body, it interacts with it. Materials, treatments, and substances become part of a continuous biological dialogue that can support or disrupt wellbeing over time. If we understand ourselves as ongoing processes rather than fixed beings, then health becomes a systemic question. And design, in turn, becomes a responsibility: not only to create function or aesthetics, but to shape the conditions in which these living systems can evolve, adapt, and thrive.