Shells & Co-habitats

Shells, cells, shelters, habitats, and buildings. Words whose meaning changes according to new conditions and needs. The home becomes ‘smart’ thanks to infrastructures and systems that capture and study the habits of its users; former bunkers are used to house the data centers of the connected worlds; controlled ecosystems are used to save and maintain disappearing plants. What do these concurrent developments mean for the future of the urban and the natural environment?

The exhibition examines several types of shells addressing, respectively, the human, nature, and information. Different proposals take into consideration the increasing role of technology as well as the possibilities and needs of different geophysical environments and topographies. Scenarios include references to spaces of continuous mediation and surveillance, units of future network infrastructures, techno-natural shelters as well as proposals for exoskeletons made for animals. The features of tomorrow’s possible shells and places are highlighted while looking into the potential of new ways of co-existence between human and non-human elements.