artist residency
Bacterial Allies | Bento Architecture
What if construction waste could be transformed into something new — not by human hands, but in collaboration with living systems? By mobilising the Sporosarcina pasteurii, Bento Architecture is part of an evolving field of research, exploring how biological processes can transform waste into new materials.
This bacterium has a unique talent: it precipitates calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) through its enzymatic activity, creating an alkaline environment where particles and aggregates bind together. The result is a guided form of biocementation—partly controlled nor entirely left to chance—that invites us to reconsider waste. Could the leftovers of construction sites be transformed into bricks, terrazzo, or entirely new materials, while fostering a more thoughtful relationship with the living world?
This residency doesn’t just focus on materials; it asks deeper questions about our responsibilities to the ecosystems around us. How do we interact with the living (like bacteria), the non-living (like waste), and the in-between? It encourages reflection on decarbonization, the potential of contemporary ruins, and how humans might better coexist with non-human actors.
By viewing construction waste not as debris to discard, but as a resource to reimagine, this residency opens a space for architectural practices that collaborate with the life forms we often overlook. This is a journey into the future of building, where human creativity works in tandem with the quiet genius of microbial life.
Created by
Bento Architecture is an architecture studio that places material experimentation at the heart of its practice. Living materials challenge the sustainability of our current production methods and their impact on our ways of life. Recognizing this reality and/or necessity, Bento’s architects strive to highlight, push beyond, and bridge the gap between architecture, art, and design.
Their process involves constant back-and-forth between experimentation with living materials and the design phase, with each feeding into the other—one questioning reality, the other giving it form. This approach allows Bento to address the challenge of scaling up, enabling the studio to create furniture pieces, artistic or scenographic installations, and architectural projects that explore alternative ways of inhabiting the world.
Bento was a laureate of the Europan 16 prize and, together with Vinciane Despret, curator of the Belgian Pavilion at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, completed a project built from resources sourced in the Brussels region. These included rammed earth from Brussels excavation sites, solid wood from the Sonian Forest, and mycelium panels (the vegetative part of fungi) grown in the cellars of Tour & Taxis.
The studio is currently working on public and private architectural projects, ecoscenography, and biodesign, combining experimental and decarbonized approaches to create innovative solutions.
Credits
Concept & research: Bento Architecture (Florian Mahieu / Charles Palliez / Corentin Dalon)
With the collaboration of microbiologist Corentin Mullender (Fungal Lab)
Thanks to Eveline Peeters – Department of Bio-engineering Sciences, VUB
Co-production: Ohme
This research is co-produced by Ohme in the framework of Ohme’s artistic residencies programme,
Funded by Innoviris – the Brussels-Capital Region
