The Bio Design Lab is a hybrid and evolutive environment that exists in both the digital and physical space. Conceived as a platform for connection and collaboration with local partners and using local resources, the Lab hosts the presentation, education and transmission of knowledge. As students and experts are invited to work on bio-design related projects, visitors can explore and interact with the Lab’s production and lines of inquiry.

Projects within the Lab focus on the local region, its materials and possibilities, and actively aim to reshuffle and rethink modes of production in Karlsruhe and the south of Germany. Topics under exploration include Algae, Soil, Plants, Body, and Agriculture. To interact with these themes and related materials, both within the digital and physical space, the Lab invites local experts and visitors alike.

Within the Bio Design Lab, regional resources are collected by connecting with local partners; they are then distilled through the making of a know-how glossary and a material library, aiming to develop local materials. The knowledge around these resources is disseminated through virtual workshops and multimedia presentations of outstanding projects dealing with sustainable materials. Ultimately, traces of these activities will remain in a constantly growing network, both in the digital platform and in physical displays of existing and future objects.

The Lab works as an incubator and a model for collaboration and production that is in line with the current transformation of the Karlsruhe University of the Arts and Design Karlsruhe. It was first presented to the public in the context of Critical Zones, an exhibition at ZKM | Center for Art and Media.