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Make Like a Leaf: Architecture as Atmosphere

Lucia Giron

Lucia Giron is a London-based multidisciplinary designer with an interest in biomaterial research and environmental ethics. She explores biodesign as a means of critical intervention, drawing upon the logic of ecology to inspire change. Her recent research revolves around the integration of photosynthetic organisms into living material, exploring how the principles of living systems, when applied to building material, could transform the way we construct.

Lucia Giron is a London-based multidisciplinary designer with an interest in biomaterial re...

Make Like a Leaf harnesses photosynthesis, the most powerful natural innovation on earth, as a tool for design.

The material is fabricated through photosynthetic biomineralization, embedded with cyanobacteria that capture carbon from the atmosphere and transform it into a binding mineral. This research focuses on maintaining this material’s vitality through hydrogel development, nutrient access, and light transmission.

The result is Biophotonite: A living, breathing, carbon-hungry architectural material that must be treated not like a brick, but like a leaf, encouraging a paradigm shift in our methods of construction.

Final work

Make Like a Leaf

Make Like a Leaf video

Research and process

Cyanobacteria Growth

Cyanobacteria Growth time-lapse

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Make Like a Leaf: Architecture as Atmosphere

Make Like a Leaf harnesses photosynthesis, the most powerful natural innovation on earth, as a tool for design.The material is fabricated through photosynthetic biomineralization, embedded with cyanobacteria that capture carbon from the atmosphere an...

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