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Bartlett Professor Synthesises Soil and Robotics at the Royal Chelsea Flower Show

21 May 2019

Professor Marjan Colletti has co-designed a biodegradable 3D-printed structure, Terrestrial Reef, for the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship event, taking place this week.

Terrestrial Reef by Marjan Colletti and Tiziano Derme

A unique hybrid of natural and synthetic elements, Terrestrial Reef examines the implications and opportunities of a fictional future scenario, where landscape is designed and shaped by artificial intelligence, asking the question: ‘how would machines develop a hybrid ecosystem of natural and artificial symbionts?’. The project is co-designed by Tiziano Derme from University of Innsbruck and MAEID.

Terrestrial Reef is the second project working to an ‘anti-garden’ concept, developed initially with Pahoehoe Beauty for the 2018 Ars Electronica Festival in Linz. It will be displayed within the Show Garden Silver Medal Winner ‘Gardening Will Save the World – Ikea and Tom Dixon’ pavilion, at the 2019 RHS Royal Chelsea Flower Show until Saturday 25 May. 

Terrestrial Reef by Marjan Colletti and Tiziano Derme
About Marjan Colletti

Marjan is Professor of Architecture and Post Digital Practice and co-directs the school’s Architecture MArch (ARB/RIBA Part 2). He is also founder of REX|LAB, a robotic experimentation laboratory at the University of Innsbruck, where he is Head of the Institute of Experimental Architecture.

Find out more

Credits

Design
  • Professor Dr Marjan Colletti, UCL and University of Innsbruck
  • Tiziano Derme, University of Innsbruck and MAEID (Büro für Architektur und Transmediale Kunst)
Collaborators
  • Moritz Riedl, University of Innsbruck 
  • Lukas Vorreiter, University of Innsbruck
Cooperation partners
  • Daniela Mitterberger, MAEID (soil printing research)
  • Tyroler Glückspilze GmbH (fungi research)
  • B-made, The Bartlett (robotics)
  • REX|LAB at Innsbruck University (facilities)
Supported by
  • The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
  • Innsbruck University
  • Tom Dixon Design Research Studio
Special thanks to
  • Josephine de Guzman and Toni Pavic at Tom Dixon Design Research Studio
  • Mark Stuettler, Manuel Stuettler and Michael Schneider at Tyroler Glueckspilze
  • Marielena Papendriou, Niamh Grace and Peter Scully at B-made, The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
  • Gabriela Seifert and Ernest Hager at Innsbruck University
  • Fiona Silk and Rossana Porta during installation; MAEID 
Photography

Paul Smoothy

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