Bio-hybrid Superorganisms Diversify Urban Ecological Niches
Urban habitats are mostly poor ecological niches, often solely focused on a single species: us. HIVEOPOLIS advocates for a diversity-focussed strategy in altering such niches by supporting diversification and complexification of such ecosystems, to make them resilient against future game-changers, like climate change. In HIVEOPOLIS we use novel materials and designs to generate beehives as superorganisms comprised by an interwoven system of living honeybees, robotic devices and smart living materials. This super-organism will help to open up the urban niche to support vegetation, other pollinators and ultimately a whole ecosystem emerging around them. This assemblage here manifests a new archetype of decentralised networks with embodied, as well as distributed, social, material and technological intelligence.
Lecture by Thomas Schmickl on 06.10.2019, 16.30
Location: Julius-Tandler Platz 3, Vienna Design Week Festival Headquarters, Althan-Quartier.