From the Ground Up [2023]
3D printed bioplastic made from recycled industrial waste, soil, binder, oak frames
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BARBICAN CENTRE 

​From the Ground Up commissioned for SUPERORGANISM responded to the Barbican's architecture by exploring material practises to think about circularity, material efficiency, ant architecture + superorganism societies, and reworlding from extractivist and capitalist ideologies. The residential towers were constructed like Victorian industrial chimneys  - the load-bearing structure around the outside used a network of precast frames of reinforced concrete, forming a monolithic framework over the face of the buildings.  In keeping with their footprint, the towers are reimagined as biodegradable, nest-inspired, modular sculptures​

SUPERORGANISM is a ongoing project co-curated by Marie-Louise Jones as part of ODO Collective and part of the Barbican’s ongoing climate justice work. It considers what humans can learn from nature’s success of the superorganism to become a diverse non-hierarchical, ecological community, helping to refuture the Barbican centre as a site of cohabitation, symbiosis and climate resilience. Through a series of internal and external public facing workshops at the Barbican centre, including talks, provocations and pubic programmes the project considers individual and collective action.

With thanks to Blast Studio, Maymana Arefin, Cyrus Khan, CXC, Jenna Mason, Giorgio Mattia, Beth Bryan, Rebecca Gould, Will Gompertz, and all workshop participants and visitors 

Photo credits: Hyder Dewachi, ODO collective