Bio-digital sculptures embody the future forms of spatial intelligence by ecoLogicStudio
20/02/2019.
Centre Pompidou [PAR] France
metalocus, MARÍA REDONDO
metalocus, MARÍA REDONDO
`La Fabrique du vivant' is an exhibition made by ecoLogicStudio at the Pompidou Center, Paris. This show traces the archeology of life and artificial life. In that exhibition, we find two live sculptures printed in 3D that are receptive to human and non-human life.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
XenoDerma by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
XenoDerma by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by Urban Morphogenesis Lab The Bartlett UCL.
XenoDerma by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by NAARO.
XenoDerma by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by Urban Morphogenesis Lab The Bartlett UCL.
XenoDerma by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by Urban Morphogenesis Lab The Bartlett UCL.
XenoDerma by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by Urban Morphogenesis Lab The Bartlett UCL.
XenoDerma by ecoLogicStudio. Photograph by Urban Morphogenesis Lab The Bartlett UCL.
ecoLogicStudio creates two sculptures which face the pillars of human rationality with the effects of proximity to bioartificial intelligence. Both sculptural pieces are destined to be speculative prototypes on a 1: 1 scale of living architectures.
Description of project by ecoLogicStudio
Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, founders of ecoLogicStudio and their research partners: the Urban Morphogenesis Lab at The Bartlett UCL, the Synthetic Landscape Lab at Innsbruck University, and the Wasp Hub at the University of Southern Denmark, are participating in the exhibition “La Fabrique du vivant” [The Fabric of the living] at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (20 February – 15 April 2019).
The show, part of Mutations-Créations series and curated by Marie-Ange Brayer with Olivier Zeitoun, retraces the archaeology of the living and of artificial life.
As the curators assert, in the digital era, a new interaction is emerging between creation and the fields of life science, neuroscience and synthetic biology. The notion of “living” takes on a new form of artificiality, that permeates the entire Urbansphere — the global apparatus of contemporary urbanity. Here, the miniaturization, distribution and intelligence of manmade urban networks have reached in-human complexity, engendering evolving processes of synthetic life on Earth.
Within this context, a multidisciplinary team led by architects Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, has created “in-human gardens”, two 3D printed living sculptures receptive to human and non-human life. These pieces confront the pillars of human rationality with the effects of proximity to bio-artificial intelligence. Both sculptures have been developed in "collaboration" with living organisms, more specifically colonies of photosynthetic cyanobacteria, H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g, and a collective of Asian Fawn Tarantulas, XenoDerma. Their non-human agency is mediated by spatial substructures developed by the artists while studying biological models of endosymbiosis. These structures are algorithmically designed and produced by means of large-scale, high-resolution 3D printing technology.
Both sculptural pieces are intended to be speculative 1:1 scale prototypes of living architectures, a new generation of thick biophilic architectural skins receptive to urban life.
H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g
(ecoLogicStudio in collaboration with Innsbruck University - Synthetic Landscape Lab, University of Southern Denmark - Wasp Hub)
In H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g, a digital algorithm simulates the growth of a substratum inspired by coral morphology. This is physically deposited by 3D printing machines in layers of 400 microns, supported by triangular units of 46 mm and divided into hexagonal blocks of 18.5 cm. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria are inoculated on a biogel medium into the individual triangular cells, or bio-pixel, forming the units of biological intelligence of the system. Their metabolisms, powered by photosynthesis, convert radiation into actual oxygen and biomass. The density-value of each bio-pixel is digitally computed in order to optimally arrange the photosynthetic organisms along iso-surfaces of increased incoming radiation. Among the oldest organisms on Earth, cyanobacteria's unique biological intelligence is gathered as part of a new form of bio-digital architecture.
In spring 2019, H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g will be exhibited at the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna.
XenoDerma
(Urban Morphogenesis Lab directed by Claudia Pasquero at The Bartlett UCL)
In XenoDerma, spider web morphogenesis is intercepted with a man-made spatial scaffolding, algorithmically designed and 3D printed. Spiders’ minds, in this case Asian Fawn Tarantulas, do not entirely reside in their bodies, as their webs constitute a form of spatial thinking. Information from their webs become an integral part of their cognitive systems. The behaviour of the spiders and the production of silk is re-programmed in XenoDerma through the design of the 3D printed substructure and of its geometrical features. The result consciously seeks productive ambiguity, revealing in the alien beauty of its silky morphologies, an intelligence that resides somewhere at the intersection of the biological, technological and digital realms.
More information
Design team
ecoLogicStudio (Claudia Pasquero, Marco Poletto, Konstantinos Alexopoulos, Matteo Baldissarra, Michael Brewster)
Collaborators
Research partners.- Biological and 3d printed systems and production development.- Synthetic Landscape Lab, IOUD, Innsbruck University (Prof. Claudia Pasquero, Maria Kuptsova, Terezia Greskova, Emiliano Rando, Jens Burkart, Niko Jabadari, Simon Posch), Photosynthetica consortium. 3d printed systems and production development.- CREATE Group / WASP Hub Denmark - University of Southern Denmark (SDU) (Prof. Roberto Naboni, Furio Magaraggia). Engineering.- YIP structural engineering, Manja Van De Vorp.
Microalgal Medium Material Support.- Ecoduna AG. 3D printing Material Support.- Extrudr.
ecoLogicStudio
ecoLogicStudio is an architectural and urban design practice dedicated to bio-digital design for the definition of a new “ecology” of space and behavior. Founded in London in 2005 by Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, the office has earned an international reputation for its innovative work on “systemic” design –,a method defined by the combination and integration of systemic thinking, computational design, biotechnology and prototyping.
Claudia Pasquero is an architect, urban designer and ecologist. Her work and research operate at the intersection of biology computation and urban design. She is Co-founder and Director of ecoLogicStudio, Director of the Urban Morphogenesis Lab at The Bartlett UCL in London, Senior Tutor at the IAAC in Barcelona and ADAPT-r RMIT Research Fellow at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn. In 2016, Claudia was appointed Head Curator of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2017 entitled “bioTallinn”.
She was also included in the top 10 of the Wired Smart List 2017, which selects and recognizes rising stars in global innovation. After graduating from Turin Polytechnic in Italy, Claudia worked as an on-site architect during phase three of the RPBW Lingotto project in Turin, and on a research project for the set-up of an Urban Air Quality Lab with Turin Polytechnic and Environmental Park. Claudia moved to London in 2001 to study at the Architectural Association. She worked with Chora, Ushida Findlay Architects and Erick Van Egeraat Architects before cofounding ecoLogicStudio with Marco Poletto in 2005. She is co-author of “Systemic Architecture. Operating manual for the self-organizing city”, published by Routledge in 2012.
Marco Poletto, Co-founder and Director of ecoLogicStudio, is an architect, author and educator. He is currently an ADAPT-r RMIT research fellow at the Aarhus School of Architecture and Distinguished
Visiting Critic at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Over the past few years, Marco has been Unit Master at the Architectural Association in London, Senior Tutor at the IAAC in Barcelona, Visiting Critic at
the Cornell University, and Research Cluster Leader at The Bartlett UCL in London. After graduating with Honors from Turin Polytechnic in Italy, Marco moved to London to study at the
Architectural Association. He worked in London as an environmental designer with Battle McCarthy before
co-founding ecoLogicStudio in 2005.
His projects have been widely published and exhibited throughout the world: in Orleans (9th Archilab - FRAC Collection, 2014), in Paris (EDF Foundation, 2013), at the Venice Architecture Biennale (STEMv3.0 the
lagoon experiment, 2008; The Ecological Footprint Grotto, 2010; Solana Open Aviary, 2016), at the Seville Art Biennale (STEMcloud, 2008), in Istanbul (Fibrous Room, 2008) and at the Milan Design Week (Urban Algae Farm, 2014; Aqua Garden, 2007) and Milan EXPO 2015. He is co-author of “Systemic Architecture. Operating manual for the self-organizing city”, published by Routledge in 2012.
Claudia Pasquero is an architect, urban designer and ecologist. Her work and research operate at the intersection of biology computation and urban design. She is Co-founder and Director of ecoLogicStudio, Director of the Urban Morphogenesis Lab at The Bartlett UCL in London, Senior Tutor at the IAAC in Barcelona and ADAPT-r RMIT Research Fellow at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn. In 2016, Claudia was appointed Head Curator of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2017 entitled “bioTallinn”.
She was also included in the top 10 of the Wired Smart List 2017, which selects and recognizes rising stars in global innovation. After graduating from Turin Polytechnic in Italy, Claudia worked as an on-site architect during phase three of the RPBW Lingotto project in Turin, and on a research project for the set-up of an Urban Air Quality Lab with Turin Polytechnic and Environmental Park. Claudia moved to London in 2001 to study at the Architectural Association. She worked with Chora, Ushida Findlay Architects and Erick Van Egeraat Architects before cofounding ecoLogicStudio with Marco Poletto in 2005. She is co-author of “Systemic Architecture. Operating manual for the self-organizing city”, published by Routledge in 2012.
Marco Poletto, Co-founder and Director of ecoLogicStudio, is an architect, author and educator. He is currently an ADAPT-r RMIT research fellow at the Aarhus School of Architecture and Distinguished
Visiting Critic at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Over the past few years, Marco has been Unit Master at the Architectural Association in London, Senior Tutor at the IAAC in Barcelona, Visiting Critic at
the Cornell University, and Research Cluster Leader at The Bartlett UCL in London. After graduating with Honors from Turin Polytechnic in Italy, Marco moved to London to study at the
Architectural Association. He worked in London as an environmental designer with Battle McCarthy before
co-founding ecoLogicStudio in 2005.
His projects have been widely published and exhibited throughout the world: in Orleans (9th Archilab - FRAC Collection, 2014), in Paris (EDF Foundation, 2013), at the Venice Architecture Biennale (STEMv3.0 the
lagoon experiment, 2008; The Ecological Footprint Grotto, 2010; Solana Open Aviary, 2016), at the Seville Art Biennale (STEMcloud, 2008), in Istanbul (Fibrous Room, 2008) and at the Milan Design Week (Urban Algae Farm, 2014; Aqua Garden, 2007) and Milan EXPO 2015. He is co-author of “Systemic Architecture. Operating manual for the self-organizing city”, published by Routledge in 2012.
