Gravitropia

Gravitropia is a multidisciplinary creative studio working at the intersection of design, strategy and planetary wellbeing, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Our approach places human-centred design, cultural integrity, and regeneration at the core of every intervention.

Our name Gravitropia, is the blending of the words gravitropism, the process plants use to navigate their growth with their roots deepening downward and their stems rising, and Utopia. To us Gravitropia means that the pathway to a flourishing future for all, must be grounded and guided by nature.

Michelle Ndebele, co-Director at Graviteopia, is a Nairobi-based multidisciplinary creativity and wellbeing practitioner. Grounded in what she calls African ‘Ancestral Intelligences’, the first and truest AI, Michelle weaves creativity, wellbeing and African philosophies to create embodied practices for human and more-than-human life to flourish. Her Afro-futuristic beadwork practice, [ VØI ], has featured across international design platforms and now expands into immersive wellbeing experiences for contemplation, intergenerational empathy and ecological imagination.

thomas bef flygenring, co-Director at Gravitropia, is a people and planetary wellbeing focused designer, working in human centered design, regenerative design, design facilitation and skills-sharing, art and design curation and mutually beneficial multi-disciplinary partnership formation and collaboration. His eponymous, multi-faceted creative consultancy, thomas bef studio, has been featured in art and design spaces internationally.

Experience Gravitropia at Wellbeing and Climate Action for Creatives