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ISSN 2309-0103 www.archidoct.net
Vol. 7 (2) / February 2020
oration in response to changes in the environment, in order to pro- vide protection from solar radiation. Next to the design installation, the research group propose also to apply this technology in order to build an environmentally responsive melanin-infused glass structure and to obtain a biologically augmented facade.
Also Rachel Armstrong, one of the leaders of the Living Architecture Systems Group at the University of Newcastle, stands against the biological/mimetic formalism, which is based on the metaphoriza- tion. In her Manifesto against biological formalism (Armstrong, 2011) she argues that, despite the continuous parallels with the biological world, our cities continue to be built with the use of inert materials and they don’t acutally follow biological principles such as metabo- lism, omeostasis or self-organization.
For this reason, in her research she investigates the possible use of protocells as building material, beyond a labotratory context. Proto- cells represent a turning point in the evolution of life-like technolo- gies. They are prototypes of primitive cells, whose primordial nature is related to the bottom-up approach taken towards development of an artificially constructed cell. They are in fact capable of chemical self-organization, according to a spontaneous phenomenon called “emergency” and their behavior can also be engineered through the use of synthetic biology. In particular. Armstrong mainly focuses on the “meta” status these molecules demonstrate by embodying the convergence of natural and artificial systems. As she affirms, pro- tocells “are characterized by their striking life-like qualities, which potentially have great value in design as they represent a platform that is simultaneously ‘natural’ in terms of its emergent spontaneity and also artificial, since they are also partly designed and deliberate- ly constructed” 3. Their implementation in building envelops could then transform architecture into an autonomous meta-living organ- ism, which is able to respond to external factors thanks to a bio-ac- tive facade.
Recently, Armstrong developped also a new prototype of “living bricks” for the Tallinn Architecture Biennale “bioTallin” in 2017. She and her research group proposed metabolically active bioreactor building blocks composed by a microbial fuel cell, an algae bioreac- tor and a genetically modified processor (figure5).
As many of these experiments are based on biological matter, in ad- dition to achieving a much more promising results in terms of sus- tainability, they also contribute to a paradigm shift from an aesthetic point of view. The envelope, in fact, is no longer inert, it does not simply emulate natural behaviors, but it literally incorporates life be- coming a meta-layer in continuous development and evolution. We prefer to define this approach as “eco-symbiotic” in order to under-
3. Armstrong, R. (2014) “De- signing with Protocells: Ap- plications of a Novel Techni- cal Platform” in Life, 4, p. 460 doi:10.3390/life4030457.
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Architecture in a Petri dish: co-programming Meta-Life in design through biointegration and synthetic biology
Selenia Marinelli