Bio Design Lab South Asia
By viewing materials as part of living, dynamic systems, the project promotes creative approaches that value symbiotic relationships between nature, technology, and culture, aiming to support balanced and respectful coexistence with the environment.
About the Project
Elemental Imprints: Bio Design Lab South Asia, addresses pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges across South Asia by exploring sustainable, non-extractive uses of undervalued local resources such as invasive plants, agricultural byproducts, algae, and industrial waste. Through a multidisciplinary collaboration involving designers, scientists, craftspeople, engineers, architects, and humanities scholars, it seeks context-specific solutions rooted in local cultures and ecosystems while informed by global perspectives.
Its objectives include transforming overlooked resources into valuable materials, building collaborative networks between South Asian and international experts, fostering innovative design processes, and establishing a Resource Center to share knowledge through a public material library, prototypes, and publications.
ABOUT THE LABS
In 2026, there will be a total of 7 labs across South Asia (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) with a focus on individual materials local to the place. These materials include comilla cotton, bamboo, seaweed, jute, mycelium, loofah, water hyacinth and seashells.
In collaboration with
