OXMAN

designer, scientist, inventor, bioarchitect

Neri was born in Haifa, Israel, to a family of architects. After completing her compulsory military training in the Israeli Air Force, she studied for two years at the medical faculty of the Hebrew University.

From there she first transferred to the architecture department of the Israel Institute of Technology, then to the London School of the Architectural Association (AA). She received her Ph.D. in Computational Design from MIT.

American-Israeli designer and MIT faculty member Neri Oxman is the shining embodiment of what has been called winning the genetic lottery: intelligence, beauty, giftedness, hard work, and an original vision inherent in a versatile person who is not afraid to blur the lines between disciplines.

In 2009, she made the list of the 20 most influential architects who are shaping our future,

compiled by ICON magazine, and among the 100 creative people by business publication Fast Company

Working at the intersection of technology and biology, architect and designer Neri Oxman calls for a fundamental change in the way we design and build the built environment, from the consumption of Nature to its enhancement.

With Material Ecology, Oxman has pioneered a field that advances previously impossible design possibilities; informing how buildings and products are made and how their shape and composition of materials can harmonize with the ecosystems they inhabit.

Materials ecology is a design philosophy, a field of study and a scientific approach that explores, informs and expresses the relationships between the built, grown and augmented

silk pavilion II

The project illustrates how these compact
and unique insects can act
not only as living looms, but also as co-designers, collaborating with humans in the design and construction of architectural structures that embody co-creation for co-habitation.

___________________ 10 days of joint work between silkworms, humans, and a robotic loom have resulted in a construction of silk threads that are longer than the diameter of planet Earth

10 дней совместного творчества шелкопрядов, людей и роботизированного ткацкого станка привели к созданию конструкции из шелковых нитей, длина которых превышает диаметр планеты Земля

Although it is well known that even harvesting Erie or Ahimsa silk (processed without destroying silkworms by hand spinning) is problematic because of the domestication, breeding, and exploitation of animals.

We investigate the effects of light, heat, and gravity

on the quality of silk, its distribution

We hope that the research underlying the

the basis of this work, will inspire many to question the politics of silk farming as a whole over 7,000 years

As part of this project, we envision the possibility of temporarily diverting materials from healthy ecosystems, integrating them into human projects, and allowing natural decomposition back into the environment to stimulate new growth.

This project points to a future in which we break the industrial cycle of overproduction and obsolescence through the use of abundant natural materials.

Instead, we must develop and implement robotic manufacturing platforms capable of using renewable and biodegradable polymers to design and fabricate multiscale structures with complex geometries.

Replacing plastic products with their biopolymer counterparts will allow for the biodegradation or decomposition of temporary products, as well as the long-lasting properties of structures designed to be tested by time and climate change.

With the effects of climate change and pandemics on a global scale, we must abandon methane-rich production methods and related building technologies.

To deal with the destructive

Design Innovation Medal at the London Design Festival 2018

MIT Collier Medal 2016

Design Innovation Award, Fast Company 2015, for Wanderers

Wilczek Design Prize 2014

Senior Fellow, Design Futures Council 2013

Earth Award for Decisive Future Design 2009.

Holcim Foundation Next Generation Award (2008), for "microstructure research for building coatings

Oxman is a senior fellow at the Design Council of the Future and won the Wilczek Design Award in 2014.

"As designers and architects, we give shape

the future. Or we give shape to the future we would like to see. It's about the life we want to live"