Cultivating Matter. Is the future alive?
The sixth International Circular Strategies Symposium addresses the theme of cultivating matter and poses the question of aliveness of future architecture.
International Circular Strategies Symposium 6
November 20-21 2025, Vienna Austria.
Auditorium of the University of Applied Arts Vienna Vordere Zollamtsstraße 7, 1030 Vienna Austria.
The sixth International Circular Strategies Symposium addresses the theme of cultivating matter and poses the question of aliveness of future architecture.
The global scale of destabilization of environments and rhythms calls for an urgent transformation of our strategies, also in architecture and building. Biology is the only other model we have to shape another future towards a more integrated world. The symposium “Cultivating Matter. Is the future alive?” serves as a platform for presenting and discussing approaches as well as case studies in architecture and design, that explore learnings from biology and the integration of organisms in materials and structures. Aliveness is based on processes that require stable patterns of flow of energy and matter, resilient and adaptable to changes. Cultivation is the design of an environment of existence, growth and stability for other living systems. Adopting aliveness in architecture implies long-term strategies of design and care, by developing new patterns of circularity and living together.
The event is organized by the Department of Building Construction, I oA, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Petra Gruber and Camille Breuil.
Event format:
The recording of the event will soon be available online on our Youtube Channel.
Thursday, November 20th 2025
09:00 Admission
09:30 Welcome Address: Ulrike Kuch, Rector of the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
Introduction: Petra Gruber, Department of Building Construction, I oA, University of Applied Arts Vienna.
10:00 – 11:00 Keynote – Carole Collet, Renewing Nature: Enacting Biodesign to Restore Ecosystems. Moderation: Petra Gruber
11:00 – 11:15 Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:15 Session 1: Design with Organisms. Moderation: Anna Orbanić.
Natalia B. Piorecka, Henning Dörfler, Judith Ascher-Jenull, Barbara Imhof, Extreme Matter: Mycelium Composites Across Material Regimes;
Eliza Biala, Martin Ostermann, Solidified Elasticity of Mycelium-Textile Hybrid Architecture;
Evgueni Filipov, Ben Bridgens, Jane Scott, Bonding Mycelium Biomaterials with the Built Environment;
Anne-Kathrin Kühner, Eliza Biala, Martin Ostermann, Entangled Mycelium – Textile Logic for Grown Architecture
12:15 – 13:15 Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:30 Session 2: Bio-inspiration. Moderation: Helga Lichtenegger.
Ille C. Gebeshuber, From Plant Galls to Grown Devices: Toward Programmable Living Materials Inspired by Plant–Insect Interactions;
Florian Zischka, Matteo Corti, Cristian Manzoni, Harald W. Krenn, Ille C. Gebeshuber, Butterfly Wing Scales as Inspiration for Multifunctional Architectural Surfaces;
Ilaria Mazzoleni, Nature-Inspired Construction and Reconstruction: Biomimetic Solutions for Resilient Building Assemblies
Petra Gruber, Camille Breuil, Clemens Preisinger, Damjan Minovski, Andreas Körner, Rebekka Waters, Dominik Einfalt, ROOTARCH Plant Root Growth for Bioinspired Architectural Design
14:30 – 14:45 Coffee Break
14:45 – 15:45 Session 3: Artistic Approaches. Moderation: Ebba Fransén Waldhör.
Antonia Ablass, What Role Can Textiles Play in Greening Architecture?;
Gabriel Kaprielian, Postcards from the Future, Singapore 2125: From Garden City to City in Nature; – Ivan Jakaric, Margarete Jahrmann, βI⊙⁻⁹ ∞ LUDIC⁹ Fermenting the Bio-Ludic: Toward a Living Architecture of Symbiotic Play;
Stephanie Rentschler, SlimeMoldCrypt
16:00 – 18:00 Posters. Moderation: Andreas Körner.
Büşra Ağaç, Fitnat Cimşit Koş, Living Tectonics as Micro-Contextual Strategies;
Sarvin Farhangi, James Lang, Trace Terra;
Demet Öztekinci, Muammer Gümüş, Zehra Delerel, Fitnat Cimşit Koş, The Organizational Behavior of Root Systems in Interaction with Surfaces;
Marek Holecek, Richard van Nieuwenhoven, Ilse Gebeshuber, From Chitosan to Chitin: Enabling Structural Biopolymer Transformation During Bioprinting
Kateřina Singer, Tamara Spalajković, Marek Hlavička, 360+ LAB: Planýrka as a Platform for More-than-Human Urban Strategies;
Berk Girgin, Sıla Özdoğan, Zeynep Özge Tepe, Fitnat Cimşit Koş, Seben Aşkın Kütükçü, Zehra Delerel, Oğuzhan Şenuysal, Betül Ozar, Living Surface Morphology; Light Exposure, and Water Effect in Moss Colonization;
Ataberk Kahraman, Fitnat Cimşit Koş, Zehra Delerel, Özgür Kavurmacıoğlu, Betül Ozar, Yusuf Çiftci, Decoding Ivy-Induced Feedback Loops: Modeling Cumulative Biological Impacts and Morphological Adaptation;
Julia Freigassner, Richard W. van Nieuwenhoven, Ille C. Gebeshuber, From Nanostructure to Function: Hierarchical Functional Structures in Chitin and Keratin;
Dilara Yiğit, Fitnat Cimşit Koş, Trans-Material Dialogues: Haptic Tectonic Inquiries Through Bio-Based Experimentation;
Richard W. van Nieuwenhoven, Nadja Kreitschitz, Manuel Reithofer, Stefan Heinl, Ille C. Gebeshuber, Circular Biofabrication: Bacterial Cellulose from Recycled Lab Waste as Structural Component for Culture Scaffolds;
Helene Romakin, Nora Mertes, About Radical Situatedness and Holistic Embodiment in More-Than-Human Processes;
Christos Kourtidis Vlachogiannis, Eftihis Efthimiou, Panayotis Pangalos, The Confluence of Parametric Design and Mycelium Fabrication
Friday, November 21st 2025
09:00 Admission
10:00 – 11:00 Keynote – Mitchell Joachim, Design Against Extinction. Moderation: Anja Jonkhans
11:00 – 11:15 Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:15 Session 4: Prototyping / Fabrication. Moderation: Viktória Sándor.
Gonzalo Vaíllo, Lukas Allner, Karolin Schmidbaur, Unscripted Material: Vulcanized Fiber and the Aliveness of the Industrially Manufactured in Architectural Practice;
Lena Fritsch, Graded Biofoam Systems for Responsive Architectural Assemblies Through Robotic Casting; Kilian Bauer, Material Learnings: Embracing Biomaterial Agency in Architectural Education;
Oliver Thomas Hamedinger, a matter of resolution: resolution of matter
12:15 – 13:15 Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:30 Session 5: Bioreceptivity. Moderation: Barbara Imhof.
Sneham Pandey, BioDiverseCity: Bioreceptive Surfaces for Urban Ecologies;
Alexandra Adelina Lăcătușu, Marcos Cruz, Brenda Parker, When Moss Speaks: Informing Bioreceptive Design Through Mapping Photosynthetic Behaviour of Epilithic Mosses;
Maria Jose Creuheras, Nathanael Myers, Farida Radwan, Weathering as an Ecological Design Factor: An Exploration into Biogeomorphic Interactions for Enhanced Weathering of Urban Stone Structures;
Dimitra Almpani-Lekka, Yannis Zavoleas, Water-Driven Membranes: Methods of Activating the Building Envelope for More-Than-Human Commoning
14:30 – 14:45 Coffee Break
14:45 – 15:45 Session 6: Critical Reflection. Moderation: Gonzalo Vaíllo. Presentations:
Stefano Corbo, Resilience-by-Design: Confronting the Environmental Crisis via Architecture;
Bastian Schleier, Meeting Salmon in Elevators: Fish, Infrastructure, and Ecological Imagination in the Northern Black Forest;
Luisa Zwetkow, Fermenting Architecture;
Paul J. J. Treichl, Designing for Deep Time: Regenerative Longevity through Multispecies-Maintenance;
Timothy Ryan, Edifical Dark Earth: Microbially Inoculated Carbonaceous Architectures
15:45 – 16:00 Closing Words by Camille Breuil
16:00 – 16:30 ROOTARCH Exhibition introduced by Camille Breuil
Scientific Committee:
- Ebba Fransen-Waldhör (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria)
- Wolfgang Gindl (BOKU University Vienna, Austria)
- Petra Gruber (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria)
- Barbara Imhof (University of Innsbruck, Liqiufer Systems Group, Austria)
- Margarete Jahrmann (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria)
- Andreas Körner (University of Applied Arts Vienna, University of Innsbruck, Austria, University College London, UK)
- Helga Lichtenegger (BOKU University Vienna, Austria)
- Clemens Preisinger (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria)
- Layla van Ellen (University of Innsbruck, Austria)
Cooperation Partners:
BOKU University Vienna, University of Innsbruck
Contact: circularstrategies@uni-ak.ac.at