Living Architecture

Conversation about urban ecologies, habitation systems, circular economy, market potentials

This mini-symposium offers insights into living architectures, focusing on ecologic systems that are programmable and capable of producing essential goods for living such as power, nutrition, clean water and air.
Experts in the fields of experimental architecture, energy design, space systems and entrepreneurship will engage in conversation, highlighting individual perspectives on what ecologic architecture is and what it can be in the future. The dialogue is meant to provoke concerted efforts to transform our habitats from inert spaces into programmable sites.

The event is a collaboration between H2020-FET OPEN project titled ?Living Architecture? and Angewandte?s arts-based research project ?GrAB-Growing As Building.?

Project ?Living Architecture? is a next-generation, selectively-programmable bioreactor. It is envisioned as an integral component of human dwelling, capable of extracting valuable resources from sunlight, waste water and air and in turn, generating oxygen, proteins and biomass through the manipulation of their interactions.

Project GrAB, was funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF in the frame of PEEK 2013 and was completed in 2016. It looked at growth patterns and dynamics in nature and applied them to architecture with the goal of creating a new living architecture. Experimentation in the laboratory, aided discovery into the integration of biology into material systems and intervention of biological organisms and concepts with existing architecture.

Invited speakers

Rachel Armstrong, project coordinator Living Architecture, Professor for experimental architecture, University of Newcastle, UK

Christophe Lasseur, project coordinator of MELISSA, European Life Support System, European Space Agency ESA, project Living Architecture Advisor, NL

Sandra Rey, Founder & CEO Glowee, innovator, France

Bernhard Sommer, Energy Design, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts, CEO Exikon – architecture, Vienna, A,

Jan Wurm, Ove Arup, Berlin, project Living Architecture Advisor

Moderator: Barbara Imhof, LIQUIFER Systems Group, project Living Architecture Partner, Vienna, A