Yuta Ikeya is a designer and engineer who explores new models for human-nonhuman relationships. His work proposes alternative roles for technology through a more-than-human-centered design approach. He is fascinated by our coexistence with other species, especially insects. This inspires him to develop tools and equipment that allow us to interact with them more meaningfully. Design becomes a critical lens through which we can look past our human standards. His work challenges us to understand how we use technology as a means to dissect and exploit nature. Yuta embraces the uncertainty of being entangled with nonhuman entities as a starting point from which to design alternative technology that integrates with nature and fosters relationships within ecosystems.

Exploring alternative interactions with insects and other nonhuman species has become central to Yuta’s work since his master’s in Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology. A key aspect of his work is shaping a shared sense of temporality to critically question what it means to share a less extractive and caring relationship with other species. In Metamorphonic, he reimagines the utilitarian relation towards domesticated silk moths, often boiled alive while harvesting silk. Yuta designed habitats to care for the moths across their different lifecycle stages, which also act as interactive installations that create atmospheric sounds from the insects’ movements. In Negotiating with the Garden, Yuta explores making pottery with bees. This speculative project involves creating a dialogue with red mason bees by sharing mud and co-creating a pollinator-friendly garden. It examines how technological interventions in his own garden can facilitate co-creation and resource-sharing with nature. Yuta, who also holds MScs in mechanical engineering from Japan and Sweden, continues as a PhD candidate at TU/e, researching new design aesthetics beyond traditional human-centered beauty standards.

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