Dezeen promotion: a multi-species refuge made from mycelium and a project exploring how bacteria can be used as an architectural tool is included in an upcoming event by Driving the Human, which will examine how humans can live in symbiosis with other species.

Titled 21 Visions for Eco-social Renewal, the hybrid event is hosted by Forecast and will take place from 15 to 17 October in Berlin's Radialsystem cultural centre, as well as online in the form of a digital broadcast.

The event will showcase twenty-one case studies selected from an open call, which was held at the start of this year and elicited more than a thousand proposals by designers and artists from 99 countries around the world.

The chosen concepts intend to address some of the most pressing topics of our time including the circular economy, artificial intelligence, and the resurrection of indigenous knowledge, in a bid to explore how humanity can move from a parasitic to a symbiotic relationship with nature.

"In their diversity, these Visions for Eco-social Renewal reinforce perspectives where collaboration and interdependency become essential, determining factors for life and survival on our planet," said Driving the Human, a joint three-year collaboration between various scientific, art and design institutions across Germany.

Among the proposals on show is Universal Declaration of Martian Rights by design collective Nonhuman Nonsense and Server Farm by artist James Bridle, who suggests building a computer out of – and in collaboration with – plants.

Similarly, Brazilian designer Clara Acioli explores using living plants and fungi to create a hive for native bees, while a project from the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment examines how bacteria can be used to create living interfaces and integrated into architecture to communicate information about the surrounding environment.

Other concepts focus more on reimagining interpersonal collaboration, with Turin-based Andrea de Chirico exploring how native materials and knowledge can be used to form everyday objects as part of new hyperlocal supply chains. The full list of projects can be explored on the Driving the Human website.

The exhibition is organised by Driving the Human, a joint project by mentorship programme Forecast, research institute Acatech, the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, and the ZKM Centre for Art and Media.

In the next phase of the project, seven of these 21 concepts will be developed into tangible prototypes, which are set to be presented in December 2022.

Driving the Human: 21 visions for Eco-social Renewal takes place from 15 to 17 October 2021 at Radialsystem in Berlin and online at drivingthehuman.com.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Driving the Human as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.