TRANS-Natures: climate fictions
TRANS-Natures will explore the many possible transfers between architecture, nature, and climate as strategic alliances. Climate change is a scientific fact, but the related narratives and social agendas are still under deep discussion. As stated by Emilio Santiago, climate change and environmentalist discourses are often perceived as a dead-end fait accompli, which seem to provide little room for action. We live in a key moment to lead a social transformation of enormous significance and responsibility. We need to create the space for more decentralized, simpler, locally based responses on climate change, reaching out to new audiences and envision novel adaptation skills.
We propose a workshop-seminar methodology that combines critical research and speculative practice to revisit the concept of ecotopia, developing the hypothesis of a desirable near future in which architecture is assembled, mediated, and operated for ecosystem restoration. A scenario that reveals architecture, city and landscape as contested surfaces, trapped between the intangible patterns of well-being ratios and the relentless effects of climate change.
Collaboration with LINA fellows
Foil & Soil Mishmash: Shellskins
“Shellskins” tries to reimagine material futures through speculative design, transforming shell waste into bio-based composites.
The seminar bridges microscopic research and planetary scales, fostering climate-fiction narratives rooted in Solarpunk ideals.
Online workshop
On 12. march 2025, ETSAM UPM hosted an online lecture by Magdalena Pietryszyn, which laid the foundation for the upcoming “in-situ” workshop. The session introduced the Ecopolitics studio to Foil&Soil’s methodology, blending practical and theoretical practices.
Learning from projects that intertwine local communities and interspecies relationships to material reuse initiatives (Ferment, Alluring Rural or Breath Back), all grounded in a conceptual framework of material agency (Jane Bennett’s Vibrant Matter) and regenerative approaches to plastic (Heather Davis’ Plastic Matter).
In-person workshop
From March 31st to April 2nd, the in-person workshop took place at the ETSAM Materials Lab, combining hands-on experimentation with ecological speculation.
Students engaged in processes like crushing shells and crafting bioplastics, then enriching mixtures with recycled textiles, bark, or ceramics to align materials with their project narratives. Activities included microscope analysis of microstructures, iterative adjustments to address brittleness or drying flaws, and group discussions linking material choices (opaque vs. translucent, smooth vs. porous) to speculative futures.
Participants left with prototypes drying in ventilated cabinets and a framework to connect material decisions to broader ecological narratives.
