School of Ecology

A holobiont is a holistic biological entity composed of a host organism and its intricate consortium of microorganisms, encompassing bacteria, viruses, and fungi. This collective assemblage forms a dynamic and interdependent ecosystem that is existentially intertwined with the host‘s physiological and ecological interactions. This symbiotic relationship is an obligatory one, suggesting that in a biological sense, there can be individuality. The site of the masterplan on which one plot was dedicated for a design school is located on Chongming Island, offshore of Shanghai. The island is an alluvial plain, which means that it is subject of constant change and fluctuation. Even though the island is still naturally growing, the wetland surface, which acts as a natural habitat for many species is decaying and shrinking. As they provide habitat for thousands of species, promote biodiversity, and serve as a stage for a natural equilibrium, their reduction have had huge local impacts and global implications. Our manifesto calls for a reinterpretation and acknowledgement of the interdepentance of human and non-human actors. In order to learn from nature, we surround and place ourselves within it by extending the artificial garden/wetland to the fullest. The site itself becomes the most valuable object, physically and intellectually. We take the sustainable priciples identified and try to apply these ideas and mechaniss to our archtiecture. Not only shall our architecture breath and act adapticely to an everychanging condition, but it shall teach awareness by confronting the human with different scales of nature and promote symbiosis, therefore acting as an entry to a new mindset.

Year
Location
Collaborators

2023
Chongming, Shanghai, CN
Sophie Gföhler

Information Architecture Visualisation Film