is a: (nature + human) centric designer and researcher finding symbiosis between organic and artificial life

Information | Archive

The Biopod Co.
An organization democratizing the restoration of wetlands, equipping communities worldwide to come together and save our most biodiverse and productive ecosystems

Bio - intelligence
Designing cars powered by organisms, not algorithms

TEDx

Designing living machines with biological components to reduce e-waste

Aero

Designing intelligent materials embeded on robotic drones that sense air health and sequesters toxins within a location

Chitobot
Designing technology with a perishable skin

PFV
A vehicle inspired by living systems that facilitates a bridge between city and nature

S(kin)-orb
Enhancing human-to-human communication through personal robots

Threads

Turning clothes into computers, facilitating human-AI symbiosis to enhance productivity, creativity, and wellbeing

29.4°+4°…
Speculating human mutation in the age of global warming

Living Archives
DNA data storage as a means of Interrogating our post life digital remains

Living Materials

Designing materials that conduct ecosystem services

Robo-reparans

In the absense of humans, robots learn to take care of eachother

Living Materials

Creating multifunctional living materials to conduct ecosystem services

Details
Living systems design • Microbiological Culture • Plant Biology • Microscopy

Date
2024

Team
Manini Banerjee

Mentor
Giulia Giudetti • Fiorenzo Omenetto

As over half the world now resides in dense, high-rise urban environments, the need for sustainable materials that integrate ecological services becomes increasingly urgent. Bio-based and "living" materials—capable of growth, regeneration, and environmental adaptation—offer a way to reduce dependence on synthetic materials while enhancing ecological resilience within urban spaces.

Traditional architecture has often degraded ecological functions, but by designing with these dynamic materials, urban structures can support essential ecosystem services, from carbon sequestration to air purification.

This approach proposes a new architecture and urban design model, where constructed environments augment natural systems, fostering symbiosis between human and non-human agents. In an era of climate crisis and urban expansion, these living materials hold the potential to transform cities into thriving, ecologically rich habitats, renewing the essential balance between the built and natural worlds.