Journal
Notes, essays and updates from the Academy.
- Newsletters
[machine-seed] Journal News render-check
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July 31, 2026
- Newsletters
What Is Symbiotic Design?
An introduction to a framework that treats every design relationship as alive, never neutral.
July 11, 2026
- Newsletters
Tame, Wicked, or Hybrid? The Question to Ask Before You Choose a Method
Two designers can face the same brief and need completely different approaches. Here is how to tell which one you are holding.
July 11, 2026
NewsFour Weeks Teaching the Design Framework at Henan University
Gonzalo spent four weeks teaching the Symbiotic Design Framework to first-year architecture students at Henan University, leaning on translation apps to bridge the language gap.
June 13, 2026
NewsMore Scenes Where Past Meets Future at Henan Drama Fantasy City
The Academy shares more scenes from Only Henan · Drama Fantasy City, the immersive theatrical park blending ancient history with modern stagecraft.
June 13, 2026
NewsExploring Ancient Bronze and Stone Artifacts at Henan Museum
The Academy toured Zhengzhou's Henan Museum, where Shang and Zhou bronzes sit beside stone carvings defaced in past upheavals — proof that culture lives in people, not stone.
June 13, 2026
NewsWhy Flea Markets Reveal a More Honest History
Symbiotic Design Academy explores why Beijing's Panjiayuan flea market reveals a messier, truer history than museums, home to the raw 'Proto-Design' objects from Symbiotic Design Framework.
June 13, 2026
NewsExploring History and Art in Beijing's 798 Art District
The Academy's founder wandered Beijing's 798 Art District, its Cold War-era factories now galleries, and found a quiet restaurant scene straight out of Edward Hopper.
June 13, 2026
NewsMeeting Tsinghua Professor Sai Ma to Discuss Design, AI and Ethics
The Academy's founder capped a China trip by meeting Tsinghua's Prof. Sai Ma to discuss design, AI, and ethics, and delivering copies of his book to the faculty.
June 13, 2026
NewsMeeting Zhang Jinhuan and Her Ink Shop in Zhengzhou
Gonzalo visited Madam Zhang Jinhuan's ink studio in Zhengzhou, where she hand-grinds pigments to paint devotional Buddhist scrolls and talismans.
May 31, 2026
NewsDiscovering Vintage Chinese Ink Paintings at a Market Stall
Gonzalo found two vintage Chinese ink paintings at a market stall, and a note tucked inside revealed the artist: Hao Shilin, trained at Hangzhou's elite art academy.
May 31, 2026
NewsVisiting the Shaolin Temple in China's Songshan Mountains
Gonzalo visits the Shaolin Temple in Henan's Songshan Mountains, founded in the 5th century as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu, struck by its calm, hierarchical architecture.
May 25, 2026
- News
Four Weeks Teaching the Design Framework at Henan University
Gonzalo spent four weeks teaching the Symbiotic Design Framework to first-year architecture students at Henan University, leaning on translation apps to bridge the language gap.
June 13, 2026
- News
More Scenes Where Past Meets Future at Henan Drama Fantasy City
The Academy shares more scenes from Only Henan · Drama Fantasy City, the immersive theatrical park blending ancient history with modern stagecraft.
June 13, 2026
- News
Exploring Ancient Bronze and Stone Artifacts at Henan Museum
The Academy toured Zhengzhou's Henan Museum, where Shang and Zhou bronzes sit beside stone carvings defaced in past upheavals — proof that culture lives in people, not stone.
June 13, 2026
- News
Why Flea Markets Reveal a More Honest History
Symbiotic Design Academy explores why Beijing's Panjiayuan flea market reveals a messier, truer history than museums, home to the raw 'Proto-Design' objects from Symbiotic Design Framework.
June 13, 2026
- News
Exploring History and Art in Beijing's 798 Art District
The Academy's founder wandered Beijing's 798 Art District, its Cold War-era factories now galleries, and found a quiet restaurant scene straight out of Edward Hopper.
June 13, 2026
- News
Meeting Tsinghua Professor Sai Ma to Discuss Design, AI and Ethics
The Academy's founder capped a China trip by meeting Tsinghua's Prof. Sai Ma to discuss design, AI, and ethics, and delivering copies of his book to the faculty.
June 13, 2026
- News
Meeting Zhang Jinhuan and Her Ink Shop in Zhengzhou
Gonzalo visited Madam Zhang Jinhuan's ink studio in Zhengzhou, where she hand-grinds pigments to paint devotional Buddhist scrolls and talismans.
May 31, 2026
- News
Discovering Vintage Chinese Ink Paintings at a Market Stall
Gonzalo found two vintage Chinese ink paintings at a market stall, and a note tucked inside revealed the artist: Hao Shilin, trained at Hangzhou's elite art academy.
May 31, 2026
- News
Visiting the Shaolin Temple in China's Songshan Mountains
Gonzalo visits the Shaolin Temple in Henan's Songshan Mountains, founded in the 5th century as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu, struck by its calm, hierarchical architecture.
May 25, 2026
NewsExploring the Longmen Grottoes as a Lesson in Proto-Design
While teaching the Symbiotic Design Framework in China, Gonzalo toured Luoyang's Longmen Grottoes, where thousands of Buddhist statues are carved into cliffs above the Yi River.
May 24, 2026
NewsOnly Henan Drama Fantasy City Amazes During China Trip
Gonzalo was awed by Only Henan · Drama Fantasy City, the immersive theatrical complex blending ancient Chinese history with modern staging, during his China trip.
May 23, 2026
NewsReflections on Reaching and Growing New Design Communities
Gonzalo reflects on the challenge and reward of introducing symbiotic design thinking to communities encountering it for the first time.
May 18, 2026
- Videos
New Design Book Born from Decades of Research
Symbiotic Design Academy unveiled a book distilling eight years of research and 360 designer interviews into a personal, sometimes provocative take on design's ethics and future.
December 17, 2025
- Videos
Symbiotic Design Academy Presented at CV+i Circular Day
Gonzalo presented the Symbiotic Design Academy project at CV+i's Circular Day, an event centered on circular economy and systemic design.
September 28, 2023
- Videos
Symbiotic Design Academy Launches First Course on Earth Day
Gonzalo marked Earth Day by launching the Academy's first course, teaching a design framework centered on sustainability and interconnectedness.
April 23, 2023
- Videos
Explaining the Symbiotic Design Framework and Free Course
Gonzalo explains the Symbiotic Design Framework, an approach centered on the interconnections within design processes, and points viewers to the Academy's free introductory course.
April 21, 2023
- Videos
Congress of Design Policies Explores Design's Broader Role
Gonzalo poses the questions behind the Congress of Design Policies: if design solves problems so well, why isn't it used more broadly as a cornerstone for a better future.
November 3, 2022
- Videos
Founder Shares a Lovely Day in Saint-Cyprien
A brief, sunny moment Gonzalo shared from Saint-Cyprien, a seaside town on France's Mediterranean coast.
August 11, 2022
- Videos
Streets Are Alive: A Look at Public Spaces
A brief video capturing the energy of public space, with Gonzalo simply noting that the streets are alive with everyday activity.
August 8, 2022
- Videos
Home Studio Set Up for a Lockdown Design Project
During lockdown, Gonzalo rigged up a makeshift home studio, using a Sony A7III and iMac setup to keep a new project moving.
May 29, 2020
- Videos
Live Music and Murals Mark Return Trip to Buenos Aires
Gonzalo caught live music from Amor Elefante against a backdrop of Juan Molinet murals on a fourth visit to Buenos Aires, just before the final stretch of his PhD.
July 15, 2018
- Videos
Tomás Saraceno's Spider-Web Installation Featured in Buenos Aires
Gonzalo shares Tomás Saraceno's installation How to Entangle the Universe in a Spider Web, built over six months by roughly 7,000 Parawixia bistriata spiders, on view in Buenos Aires.
March 11, 2018
- Videos
Leon Ferrari's 'Opus 113' Concrete Art Sculpture
A look at Opus 113 by Argentine concrete artist León Ferrari, whose kinetic sculpture work Gonzalo photographs in Buenos Aires.
March 4, 2018
NewsMachi Francisca Linconao elected to constitutional convention
Gonzalo celebrated Machi Francisca Linconao's election to Chile's constitutional convention, one of its seats reserved for Indigenous representatives, as a sign of a changing country.
May 18, 2021
NewsGuest lecture on design culture at Quito university
Invited by his friend Ivan Burbano, Gonzalo gave a guest lecture on design culture for a course at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, drawing on his PhD research.
May 15, 2021
NewsHumberto Maturana, co-creator of autopoiesis theory, dies
Gonzalo paid tribute to Chilean biologist Humberto Maturana, co-creator of autopoiesis theory, the foundation of the doctoral thesis he was about to defend.
May 6, 2021
NewsYouTube channel reaches 250 subscribers
Gonzalo's YouTube channel, BigBangThinking, passes 250 subscribers, with new videos on the way.
March 16, 2021
NewsDesign paper selected for Cumulus Rome 2021
Gonzalo's paper, 'Autopoietic Design: Seven Components for a Sustainable Future Design Model,' is selected for presentation at Cumulus Rome 2021.
March 11, 2021
NewsPhD thesis approved for public defense
After four years of research and a six-month evaluation, Gonzalo's Design PhD thesis was approved for public presentation and defense.
March 9, 2021
NewsMarking the December 2020 solar eclipse
A total solar eclipse swept across Chile and Argentina in December 2020, a rare celestial event Gonzalo paused to mark.
December 14, 2020
NewsNew video explores ProtoDesign concept in Chiloé, Chile
Traveling to Chiloé in southern Chile, Gonzalo documents early trades he calls 'ProtoDesign,' creative acts that predate design as a discipline.
December 10, 2020
NewsTalk on the history of design in Latin America
Gonzalo moderated a Universidad Finis Terrae panel on the history of design in Latin America, bringing together design scholars from Mexico, Colombia, and Chile.
November 30, 2020
NewsPanel on the present of design in Latin America
Gonzalo organizes and moderates a panel on the present of design in Latin America, bringing together Cumulus Association members from Uruguay and Chile after pandemic travel became impossible.
November 30, 2020
NewsPanel discussion on the future of design in Latin America
Gonzalo organized and moderated 'Futuro del Diseño en Latinoamérica,' a Cumulus Association panel with design leaders from Peru, Mexico, and Chile.
November 30, 2020
NewsVideo interview with Buenos Aires artist Gonzalo Arbutti
Filmed before lockdown, Gonzalo profiles Buenos Aires artist Gonzalo Arbutti, a 21st-century heir to the Arts and Crafts tradition and a master of wood.
November 27, 2020