Abstract
Designers today are actively engaging with experimentation and innovation of bio-materials derived from living matter, foregrounding the interrelationship between biological processes, material design, and ecological responsibility. In this context, workspaces that provide conditions to design with living organisms become especially crucial to leverage their transitional material potentials. Grounded upon a 24-month research-through-design study, this paper discusses the ground-up infrastructuring work of establishing a biodesign workspace to support designing with living matter in a university setting. I highlight the emergent nature of such endeavour, including the continuous alignment, containment, and care and maintenance work necessary for growing a provisional intervention into a dedicated workspace. In so doing, this study contributes to the call for transitional materialities by foregrounding infrastructuring work of designers as a crucial component in expanding engagement with dynamic material agents.
Keywords
biodesign, living matter, workspace, infrastructuring
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.443
Citation
Naito, E. (2026) Infrastructuring transitional bio-materialities: Case of the BioMakerStudio, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.443
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Infrastructuring transitional bio-materialities: Case of the BioMakerStudio
Designers today are actively engaging with experimentation and innovation of bio-materials derived from living matter, foregrounding the interrelationship between biological processes, material design, and ecological responsibility. In this context, workspaces that provide conditions to design with living organisms become especially crucial to leverage their transitional material potentials. Grounded upon a 24-month research-through-design study, this paper discusses the ground-up infrastructuring work of establishing a biodesign workspace to support designing with living matter in a university setting. I highlight the emergent nature of such endeavour, including the continuous alignment, containment, and care and maintenance work necessary for growing a provisional intervention into a dedicated workspace. In so doing, this study contributes to the call for transitional materialities by foregrounding infrastructuring work of designers as a crucial component in expanding engagement with dynamic material agents.