Biotopia: Propagative Structures part of this year's Venice Architecture Biennale
So Concrete contributed to the realization of Biotopia: Propagative Structures — part of the main exhibition at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Carlo Ratti.
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The organically shaped installation, designed by Federico Díaz, was created using robotic 3D printing (3DCP) and SPI technology. The material palette included ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), clay, metakaolin, bentonite, and basalt fiber — a combination that fuses geological layers with cutting-edge innovation.
In this project, geopolymer mixtures are explored as part of a closed-loop material cycle, where each element acts not only as a structural component but also as potential nourishment for future growth phases.
The installation presents a physical prototype of future architecture — not built, but grown. It envisions an intelligent, ecologically integrated, and materially circular system that responds to its environment and takes cues from the logic of root networks.
The project illustrates how tomorrow’s construction processes might draw closer to biological principles — emphasizing renewability, adaptability, and collaboration between natural, human, and machine intelligence.
A film essay by The Why Factory, led by Winy Maas, complements the installation with a speculative vision — tracing the evolution of biomaterials and their potential impact on future urban environments.
The installation bridges scientific knowledge and artistic imagination, offering a vision of architecture as a living organism — one that generates energy, filters water, regulates climate, and provides shelter not only for humans, but for other forms of life as well.
"Propagative Structures explores architecture as something that grows, adapts, and eventually decomposes, just like living organisms. In this way, the built environment becomes a partner in the metabolic flows of the planet, not a disruption."
- Federico Díaz
Photo of the exhibition by Celestia Studio
Visualization by Filip Vedra
Installation report by Jen Kratochvil, Federico Díaz
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