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A crucial component in designing soft actuating structures with controllable shape changes is programming internal, mismatching stresses. In this work, a new paradigm for achieving anisotropic dynamics between isotropic end‐states—yielding a non‐reciprocal shrinking/swelling response over a full actuation cycle—in a microscale actuator made of a single material, purely through microscale design is demonstrated. Anisotropic dynamics is achieved by incorporating micro‐sized pores into certain segments of the structures; by arranging porous and non‐porous segments (specifically, struts) into a 2D hexagonally‐shaped microscopic poly(N‐isopropyl acrylamide) hydrogel particle, the rate of isotropic shrinking/swelling in the structure is locally modulated, generating global anisotropic, non‐reciprocal, dynamics. A simple mathematical model is introduced that reveals the physics that underlies these dynamics …