Relational Alternatives for a Human–Plant Continuity from a Posthumanist and Ecological Perspective

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between human and plant species within the framework of the so-called Anthropocene, understood here according to the authors cited in this work, who describe it as a period defined by extractivism, ecological crisis, and the ornamental instrumentalization of the vegetal. Drawing from posthumanist and ecological perspectives, the text rethinks this relationship through three critical strategies: the use of endemic vegetation, the principle of minimal intervention, and the integration of ancestral knowledge. Through a transdisciplinary methodology that brings together philosophy, ecology, architecture, and Indigenous epistemologies, the article develops a critical review of conceptual and design-based references that illuminate alternative ways of relating across species. It explores contemporary practices that recognize plants as active agents in the construction of space, challenging anthropocentric paradigms and opening possibilities for ethical, symbiotic, and sustainable forms of cohabitation. These experiences configure spaces of resistance against the commodification of nature and offer platforms for imagining more just futures grounded in reciprocity and multispecies coexistence.