What happens when some of the world’s leading designers visit some of the world’s most stunning landscapes? The Nature Conservancy challenged 10 designers to create new objects from sustainable materials sourced from all over the world—from the Guarayo indigenous lands of Bolivia to rolling prairies only two hours outside Chicago.

The results aren’t just a collection of beautiful objects. They form an art exhibit as well as a provocative collection of works that explore questions about the human connection to our environment, the products we use and where they come from, and how art and design can work in harmony with environmental sustainability.

“Design for a Living World” is as much about people as it is place, and as much about beautiful design as it is sustainability. It eliminates the tangle of middlemen to put artists and designers directly in contact with nature, a process they all describe as rare. The exhibit becomes a kind of manifesto for how designers think about materials and how nature both inspires art and provides for it. Sheridan Road talked to three of the designers about their work, which is on exhibit at The Field Museum through November 13.