We the Bacteria: Notes Toward Biotic Architecture

The exhibition curated by Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley explores the intersection of bacteria and buildings, emphasizing how they have been deeply intertwined from Neolithic times to today. It examines this ancient, ongoing, intimate relationship, reimagining inequalities through the lens of bacteria. It will delve into alternative spatial, political, ethical, architectural, and urban models inspired by bacterial communities. The exhibition, meant to act as a reflective mirror, invites visitors to see themselves as transspecies creatures suspended in a trans-species environment. It unfolds in a circuit, beginning with a new architectural history of the last 10,000 years, passing through a manifesto calling for probiotic architecture, and culminating with contemporary work by architects, designers, artists, scientists, and philosophers--including installations of living bacteria generating new kinds of architecture. In a series of immersive multimedia displays, the show explores the politics of trans-species communities that sustain life and shape the built environment.