Living Room Collective: Picoplanktonics
Can we cooperate with nature to construct spaces that remediate the planet rather than exploit it? Picoplanktonics proposes that we can leverage both ancient biological processes and emergent technologies into a vision of how we might design our environments under an ecology-first ethos. More than 2.4 billion years ago, marine cyanobacteria (picoplankton), one of Earth’s earliest life forms, were responsible for decreasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and creating the oxygen-rich environment of today. Andrea Shin Ling’s research at ETH Zurich pairs these organisms with technological innovation, a first-of-its-kind bio-fabrication platform capable of printing living structures at architectural scale.
Originally fabricated in a laboratory, a series of large-scale 3D printed structures embedded with live Synechococcus PCC 7002 (a species of single-cell cyanobacteria) has been relocated to the Canada Pavilion, in Venice, which has been adapted to host them, to provide the light, moisture and warmth that the cyanobacteria need to grow and thrive. This species of cyanobacteria has the ability to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by storing it in mineralized form in the printed structures. The environment has been intentionally designed to support the structures and tended to by caretakers throughout the exhibition, as stewardship becomes a collectively shared responsibility. This ongoing experiment offers a reciprocal relationship between living structure, built environment and humans, rethinking how we can build in ways that prioritize ecological resilience beyond the human species’ survival.
Full exhibition details will be unveiled on May 6, 2025. Picoplanktonics at the Canada Pavilion will open to the public for the duration of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, from May 10 to November 26, 2025.
Photo: Beda Schmid
“The Canada Council is proud to support the Living Room Collective, who has been selected to represent Canada at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. My sincere congratulations go out to our national and international selection committee in choosing such a timely proposal from this unique group, where design and biology will converge to imagine a better future for our living spaces.”
— Michelle Chawla, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Council for the Arts
Living Room Collective
Andrea Shin Ling is an architect and biodesigner who works at the intersection of design, digital fabrication and biology. Her work focuses on how the critical application of biologically and computationally mediated design processes can move society away from exploitative systems of production to regenerative ones. She is the 2020 S+T+ARTS Grand Prize winner for her work as Ginkgo Bioworks’ creative resident designing the decay of artifacts in order to access material circularity. Andrea is a founder of designGUILD, a Toronto-based art collective, and was a researcher in the Mediated Matter group at the MIT Media Lab, where she worked on Aguahoja I, a 3D-printed bio-material pavilion. She is currently a doctoral fellow at the Chair of Digital Building Technologies at ETH Zurich.
Nicholas Hoban is a computational designer, fabricator and educator. He works at the intersection of computational design, robotics, construction and simulation in pedagogy, research and practice. Nicholas is the director of applied technologies at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design and a lecturer within the Daniels technology specialist program, leading various research and teaching labs while developing curriculum for studios and seminars on advanced fabrication and robotics within architecture. His research focuses on the application of robotics within fabrication and construction and on how we can solve critical problems in geometry through integrated processes. Nicholas was a lead fabricator and computational designer for two previous Venice Biennales: for the 2014 Canadian Pavilion for Lateral Office’s Arctic Adaptations and for the 2016 Swiss Pavilion for Christian Kerez’s Incidental Space.
Vincent Hui is a distinguished professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Department of Architectural Science, imparting knowledge across diverse domains from design studios to digital tools. His pedagogical excellence has earned him multiple teaching accolades, as he delves into the intersections of architecture, fabrication and allied disciplines. With over 25 years of experience, his extensive publication portfolio focuses on design pedagogy, simulation, prototyping and technological convergence, complemented by a rich body of creative work showcased globally. Collaborating with esteemed organizations such as the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) and the Canadian Architecture Students’ Association (CASA), Vincent endeavours to empower the next generation of designers, navigating emergent shifts in praxis. Committed to bridging academia and industry, he advocates for experiential learning initiatives and outreach endeavours for aspiring designers. His remarkable contributions have culminated in his induction into the esteemed RAIC College of Fellows.
Clayton Lee is a curator, producer and performance artist. He is currently the director (artistic) of the Fierce Festival, in Birmingham, UK. He was previously the director of the Rhubarb Festival, Canada’s longest-running festival of new and experimental performance, at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Clayton has also worked as creative producer on Jess Dobkin’s projects, including For What It’s Worth, her commission at the Wellcome Collection, in London, UK; as curatorial associate at the Luminato Festival; and as managing producer of the CanadaHub at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His performance projects have been presented in venues across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. He was one of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s 2023 artists-in-residence.
“It is an incredible honour to have been selected to represent Canada at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. In demonstrating the possibilities of a collaborative relationship with nature, we look forward to leveraging this global platform alongside national and international partners to engage in a critical dialogue around alternative design practices that can sit alongside contemporary carbon neutral building strategies.”
—Living Room Collective
Selection committee
The selection committee was comprised of the following members:
- Aziza Chaouni, architect, principal, Aziza Chaouni Projects (Toronto │ Morocco) │ associate professor, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario)
- David Garneau (Métis), painter, curator and critical art writer │ professor, Visual Arts Department, University of Regina (Regina, Saskatchewan)
- Daniel Pearl, architect, principal, L’OEUF Architectes (Montréal) │ professor, School of Architecture, Université de Montréal (Montréal, Quebec)
- Siamak Hariri, architect, founding partner, Hariri Pontarini Architects (Toronto, Ontario)
- Sepake Angiama, curator and educator │ artistic director, Institute for International Visual Art (London, United Kingdom)
Media relations contact
For media requests including interviews, please contact:
Canada Council for the Arts
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