3D PRINTED STRUCTURE SAVES PLANET BY ABSORBING CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE AIRE

The theme of this year's Venice Architecture Biennale invites designers to think about how architecture may use technology to address global issues. With its display of live 3D-printed sculptures called Picoplanktonics, which benefit the environment rather than deplete it, the Canada Pavilion has undoubtedly taken that issue very seriously. 

Living Room Collective, a group of architects, scientists, artists, and educators under the direction of architect and biodesigner Andrea Shin Ling, is the creator of picoplanktonics. The group collaborated to develop a sustainable and intelligent material that can extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Ling shared, “Picoplanktonics marks four years of research at ETH Zürich with international collaborators in material science, biology, robotics, and computational design. As we move these living prototypes into the Canada Pavilion, we are thrilled to invite the public into this open experiment and reveal all phases of the material’s life, including growth, sickness, and death, while collectively imagining a regenerative design approach that seeks planetary remediation.”

The 3D-printed structures are a stunning illustration of an ecology-first design philosophy and are home to live cyanobacteria that can sequester carbon. The Canada Pavilion has been converted into the ideal host space to accommodate the structure. The pavilion's lighting, humidity, and temperature have all been carefully calibrated to provide the cyanobacteria with all the conditions they require to flourish.

In order to show that caretaking is an essential component of the design, on-site caretakers will be maintaining the buildings during the Biennale. By doing this, the organisers aim to start a conversation about how design and people may coexist peacefully for the benefit of the earth.