Neri Oxman: Material Ecology

Neri Oxman’s design and production processes have been influenced and informed by nature – from tree bark and crustaceans’ shells to silkworms and human breath. Oxman has developed new ways of thinking about materials, objects, buildings, and construction processes,  as well as new frameworks for interdisciplinary—and even interspecies—collaborations.

Oxman is professor of media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, she founded and directs the Mediated Matter Group. She coined the term “material ecology” to describe techniques and objects that are informed by and directly engage with the structures, systems, and aesthetics of nature.

While individually these works are beautiful and revolutionary, taken as a group they constitute a new philosophy of designing, making—and even unmaking—the world around us. The exhibition includes seven projects which act as “demos” for a library of materials and processes that might eventually be available to all architects and designers. The objects and structures are all designed as if grown—with no assembly required.