Is biodesign the future of architecture? EcoLogicStudio thinks so

Co-founder and director of ecoLogicStudio and biodesign champion Claudia Pasquero believes that design must move from controlling nature to working with it. ‘This transition is necessary if architecture is to play a role in mitigating the effects of climate change,’ she says. At the core of this shift is biodesign, a discipline that combines biology, building development, and technology to promote sustainable architecture.

EcoLogicStudio talks us through biodesign in architecture

Biodesign can encompass everything from designers mimicking nature to purify the air to architects creating buildings made from mushrooms. ‘It is essential in rebalancing the planet’s carbon footprint,’ says Pasquero. Through her practice, ecoLogicStudio, the architect and curator has been using this approach to produce environmentally conscious work.

Founded in 2005 by Pasquero and Marco Poletto, ecoLogicStudio combines digital technologies with environmental design to create biophilic installations, sustainable products, and nature-driven systems. The practice’s name is a nod to Gregory Bateson’s book, Steps to an Ecology of Mind, a collection of essays that touches on biology, anthropology, and cybernetics.

‘We established ecoLogicStudio to develop a further level of integration between design and ecology,’ says Poletto.

In the last two decades, the practice has garnered global recognition for its circular design approaches, forward-thinking research, and clever use of algae. ‘Starting with photosynthesis and mycelium, over the years we have developed systems and materials to create furniture and architectural components,’ says Pasquero.

One of ecoLogicStudio’s most notable projects is AirBubble, a playground that uses algae in bioreactors to remove pollutants from the air. Another is TreeOne an AI-made tree that captures and stores carbon dioxide. Both projects demonstrate the power of working with nature instead of exploiting it.

In 2018, ecoLogicStudio collaborated with the University of Innsbruck’s Synthetic Landscape Lab and the Urban Morphogenesis Lab at UCL London to launch PhotoSynethica. This initiative seeks to help decarbonise cities, reduce air pollution, and integrate nature into the built environment. ‘We set it up to connect all the research and development we do in the office and at universities,’ says Poletto.

Its latest venture, Deep Forest, is an immersive installation inside the ‘Living Structures’ exhibition at the Louisiana Museum in Denmark. This show illustrates the potential of technology working with nature in the built environment. More recently the studio has been working on Design Apothecary Turin, a research space in Italy that explores biophilic design.

Moving forward, the studio aims to continue advocating for biodesign in the built environment while producing systems to combat the climate crisis. ‘We are working on new installations that integrate our philosophy into public and private spaces, pushing the idea of an architecture that not only coexists with the environment but also enriches it.’

ecologicstudio.com