The University of Innsbruck hosts an exhibition showcasing groundbreaking research at the Intersection of AI, Biotechnology, and Architecture.
From December 10, 2025, to March 10, 2026, the Synthetic Landscape Lab at the University of Innsbruck opens its doors to students, researchers, and the public for a new exhibition featuring FundamentAI and CryoflorE — two flagship projects that embody the Lab’s pioneering work at the convergence of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and architectural design as well as its long lasting collaboration with ecoLogicStudio.
The Synthetic Landscape Lab is an experimental research platform exploring the integration of living systems — including algae, microbes, and synthetic ecologies — into adaptive, resilient infrastructure. Working across architecture, computation, and the life sciences, the Lab employs AI-driven design, advanced fabrication, and biotechnological experimentation to bridge scientific research, public space, and cultural practice. Central to its work is the use of sensing, biosensing, and data-driven feedback to understand how humans and non-human organisms co-evolve within environmental systems, positioning design as a form of ecological mediation to address urgent challenges such as climate change, urban resilience, and environmental regeneration. The exhibition highlights the Lab’s unique interdisciplinary approach, offering visitors insight into its methods, tools, and vision.
Developed through long-term collaboration between ecoLogicStudio and the University of Innsbruck, the exhibition presents FundamentAI and CryoflorE as living research artefacts, returning to the academic environment where their methodologies were first cultivated. After being presented on major international stages — from the Venice Architecture Biennale to the Solar Biennale at MUDAC in Lausanne — the projects now act as open platforms for learning, debate, and experimentation.
FundamentAI explores a radical rethinking of urban intelligence, placing ecological systems at the core of planning processes. First unveiled at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, the project envisions a city that listens before it acts — co-designed by humans, AI, and microbial life. Drawing on real-time ecological signals from Venice’s lagoon, FundamentAI translates images, maps, and natural language into bio-receptive architectural forms. At Innsbruck, the project is presented not as a static exhibit, but as an evolving research environment that demonstrates how participatory AI and more-than-human intelligence can co-author future urban scenarios.
CryoflorE, commissioned by MUDAC for the Solar Biennale, presents a complementary vision rooted in bio-solar energy and living infrastructure. The project features a large-scale urban model powered by bio-catalytic cells inhabited by cyanobacteria and microalgae. Using biodegradable 3D-printed biopolymer units with conductive anodes and cathodes, each module functions as an individual bio-catalytic cell. Arranged according to a solar clock, the installation visualizes energy production in response to sunlight and photosynthetic activity, forming an adaptive, decentralized network embedded within architectural fabric.
Presented together, FundamentAI and CryoflorE reflect the two complementary dimensions of the Lab’s research: cybernetic intelligence and participatory urban cognition, and bio-solar metabolism and energy cultivation. Both challenge conventional notions of architecture and infrastructure, proposing cities that think, grow, listen, and metabolize — designed not just for nature, but with it.
From December 10, 2025, to March 10, 2026, the exhibition will be freely accessible, offering a rare opportunity to engage directly with two internationally recognized projects while experiencing the Lab’s unique interdisciplinary approach firsthand. More than a retrospective, the exhibition acts as a living laboratory, seeding new questions, research, and futures.
Team:
Authors: Synthetic Landscape Lab with ecoLogicStudio
Exhibition Team: Prof Claudia Pasquero and Dr Marco Poletto with Xiao Wang, Bo Liu, Mika Schulz, Michael Unterberger, Stephan Jaeck
Photographer: Xiao Wang, Synthetic Landscape Lab
Design Team: Prof Claudia Pasquero, Dr Marco Poletto, Simon Meng, Haoyi Chen, Xiao Wang, Emmanouil Zaroukas, Jasper Zehetgruber, Francesca Turi, Beatriz Gonzales Arechiga, Alessandra Poletto, Mika Schulz, Micheal Unterberger, Bo Liu.
