Abstract
This paper situates the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul climate disaster within the intertwined crises of the Anthropocene, arguing that those impacted developed situated practices to preserve identities and sustain life amidst collapse. Drawing on in-depth interviews with thirteen individuals directly affected by the floods, the research identifies Modes of Being that illuminate strategies of adaptation, care, and continuity rooted in Latin American ontologies. Through the interpretive lenses of Anna Tsing’s concepts of ghosts, monsters, and ruins, these modes reveal how to endure life in the Anthropocene and reconfigure identities and relations to persist. The study proposes a framework of four ethical values for situated design in the Anthropocene, rooted in considering the autonomy of local communities, perceiving more-than-human care, reorienting toward permanent instability, and resignifying the time of things. We argue that by embracing these values, design practices can shift from universal logics toward pluriversal and relational climate futures.
Keywords
Modes of Being; Anthropocene; more-than-human; climate disaster.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2550
Citation
Dai Prá Penteado, N., and Meyer, G. (2026) Modes of Being Amid Anthropocene: Living Through the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul Floods, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2550
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Modes of Being Amid Anthropocene: Living Through the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul Floods
This paper situates the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul climate disaster within the intertwined crises of the Anthropocene, arguing that those impacted developed situated practices to preserve identities and sustain life amidst collapse. Drawing on in-depth interviews with thirteen individuals directly affected by the floods, the research identifies Modes of Being that illuminate strategies of adaptation, care, and continuity rooted in Latin American ontologies. Through the interpretive lenses of Anna Tsing’s concepts of ghosts, monsters, and ruins, these modes reveal how to endure life in the Anthropocene and reconfigure identities and relations to persist. The study proposes a framework of four ethical values for situated design in the Anthropocene, rooted in considering the autonomy of local communities, perceiving more-than-human care, reorienting toward permanent instability, and resignifying the time of things. We argue that by embracing these values, design practices can shift from universal logics toward pluriversal and relational climate futures.