Circular Strategies Symposium University of Applied Arts Vienna w/ Mitchell Joachim, Terreform ONE

November 20 – 21, 2025 University of Applied Arts Vienna. The sixth International Circular Strategies Symposium addresses the theme of cultivating matter and poses the question of aliveness of future architecture.

The global scale of destabilization of environments and rhythms calls for an urgent transformation of our strategies, also in architecture and building. Biology is the only other model we have to shape another future towards a more integrated world. The symposium “Cultivating Matter. Is the future alive?” serves as a platform for presenting and discussing approaches as well as case studies in architecture and design, that explore learnings from biology and the integration of organisms in materials and structures. Aliveness is based on processes that require stable patterns of flow of energy and matter, resilient and adaptable to changes. Cultivation is the design of an environment of existence, growth and stability for other living systems. Adopting aliveness in architecture implies long-term strategies of design and care, by developing new patterns of circularity and living together.

- Thursday, November 20, 2025

Welcome Address: Ulrike Kuch, Rector of the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

Introduction: Petra Gruber, Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna

Keynote “Renewing Nature: Enacting Biodesign to Restore Ecosystems” by Carole Collet.

- Friday, November 21, 2025

Keynote “Design Against Extinction” by Mitchell Joachim.

Sessions: Prototyping/ Fabrication, Bioreceptivity, Critical reflection.

Closing words: Camille Breuil, Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna.

https://ioa.angewandte.at/news/circular-strategies-symposium-6-cultivating-matter-is-the-future-alive-20-21-november-2025

Domus magazine with Terreform ONE/ Mitchell Joachim

Plant - Living Materials for Human Habitats, the September issue of Domus, guest edited by Bjarke Ingels, looks to the world of plants and explores how vegetation can re-root urban life in living systems.

Published in Domus n. 1104, 2025 - Courtesy of Archivio Domus - © Editoriale Domus S.p.A.

https://www.domusweb.it/en/news/gallery/2025/09/01/domus-1104-september-2025.html

The unEarthed / Second Nature / PolliNATION w/ Terreform ONE, Mitchell Joachim

The inaugural symposium, moderated by renowned critic and curator Aaron Betsky, will take place on Friday, May 9, from 2 to 6 p.m. This global gathering will feature twelve visionary speakers whose work explores the intersections of architecture, ecology, and engineered systems. Through a series of dynamic hour-long conversations, each participant will share their unique perspective on how design can engage both human-made and natural systems in transformative ways.

Confirmed speakers include: Kevin Jones, VT Honors College, Elizabeth Diller (Diller Scofidio + Renfro), Vicente Guallart, Urbanitree, Summer Islam, Material Cultures, Olalekan Jeyifous (artist/designer), Mitchell Joachim, Terreform ONE, Maria Lisogorskaya, Assemble, Ferdinand Ludwig, Baubotanik, Mireia Luzárraga, TAKK, Qingyun Ma, Mada s.p.a.m., Claudia Pasquero, Ecologic Studio, and Enric Ruiz Geli, Cloud 9 Architecture.

https://www.theplan.it/eng/whats_on/unearthed-second-nature-pollination

La Biennale di Venezia Architettura 2025 w/ Terreform ONE, Mitchell Joachim, Peder Anker, Melanie Fessel, and Paul D. Miller

Venice Biennale of Architecture, May 10th - Nov. 23rd, 2025.

19th International Architecture Exhibition: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.

Coding Plants: An Artificial Reef and Living Kelp Archive

In the future, libraries won’t be built, but grown. Here, botanical elements will be genetically augmented to store the knowledge of specific architectural forms—houses, bridges, communal spaces, etc.—that can be extracted and used to challenge polluting construction methods. The goal is to design urban environments that adapt and evolve in balance with their surrounding ecosystems. Plants will function as living archives, encoding detailed information within their DNA to allow users to influence and direct their growth and structure. This approach integrates radical sustainability directly into a semi-natural ecosystem, creating a harmonious blend of hybrid nature and human innovation.

Coding Plants is a synthetic living reef that is the ultimate archive preserving design knowledge. A single gram of plant DNA can, at least theoretically, store up to 215 million gigabytes of data. By embedding design knowledge into living organisms, Coding Plants is a suppositional green architectural agenda in which nature is empowered on the genetic level. While this may seem hypothetical, it is grounded in recent breakthroughs in genetic engineering. This approach heralds a living architecture that profoundly rethinks conventional building practices while fostering resilience and ecosystem integration.

Coding Plants is a semi-natural kelp reef in which architectural records become edible proteins. Encased within vitrines is a collection of suspended, self-contained hybridised organisms that showcase dynamic natural processes. Scientists have injected encoded information—comprising text, images, and drawings—into the genetic material of this novel vegetation, making the reef into a living comprehensive library.

Credits: Terreform ONE

Mitchell Joachim, Peder Anker, Melanie Fessel, Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky.

Studio: Vivian Kuan (Executive Director), Julie Bleha.

Design: David Paraschiv, Emily Young, Sky Achitoff, Avantika Velho, JJ Zhijie Jin.

Science: Oliver Medvedik, Sebastian Cocioba.

Collaborators: Wendy W. Fok, WE-DESIGNS.

Media: Michelle Alves De Lima.

Research: Nicholas Lynch, Marina Ongaro, Ava Hudson. Jerzelle Lim, Helen Gui.

Sponsors: U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, New York University, NYU Global Research Initiatives in the Office of the Provost, Oslo School of Architecture and Design, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences.

Special Thanks:

Carlo Ratti, Curator of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition. Victoria Rosner, Dean of Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. 

READ MORE

 e-flux Coding Plants:

https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/666326/terreform-onecoding-plants/ 

Venice Biennale:

https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/progetti-e-partecipanti