Page 7 - JCAU-5-3

Journal of Chinese

Architecture and Urbanism

VIEWPOINT
Synthetic biology enabling a shift from

domination to partnership with natural space

Víctor de Lorenzo* and Miguel de la Ossa
Department of Systems Biology, National Center of Biotechnology, Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Científicas, Darwin 3, Madrid 28049, Spain
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Regenerative Architecture)

Abstract

Synthetic biology is a field of science that examines biological systems through the
lens of engineering with the explicit objective of rationally designing live objects
for either fundamental or biotechnological purposes. Yet, the same conceptual
frame also embodies its exact counterpart: the biologization of engineering, i.e.,
looking at rationally designed systems through the lens – and with the tools – of
biology and evolution. Such a creative tension between technology-driven design
and biological processes has one of the most conspicuous battlegrounds in modern
architecture. Such an edge occurs in a time dominated by the evidence of climate
change, ramping environmental deterioration, and the ensuing instability and mass
migrations. The most recent influences of biology in architecture have moved from
the adoption of biologically inspired shapes and forms in many types of buildings to
*Corresponding author: the incorporation of new biomaterials (often functionalized with qualities of interest)
Víctor de Lorenzo as assembly blocks, to the amalgamation of live materials with other construction
(vdlorenzo@cnb.csic.es)
items. Yet, the possibility opened by synthetic biology to redesign biological
Citation: de Lorenzo, V. & de la properties à la carte, including large-scale developmental programs, also unlocks
Ossa, M. (2023). Synthetic the opportunity to rethink our interplay with space, not as one more step in the way
biology enabling a shift from
domination to partnership with of domination, but as a win-win conversation with the natural environment. While
natural space. Journal of Chinese various contemporary architectural tendencies clearly move in that direction, we
Architecture and Urbanism, propose a radical approach–exemplified in the so-called Biosynthetic Towers Project–
5(3):0619.
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0619 in which complex buildings are designed and erected entirely through biological
programming rather than assembled through standard construction technology. To
Received: April 19, 2023
make this scenario a reality, we need not only tackle a dedicated research agenda
Accepted: July 14, 2023 in the synthetic biology side, but also develop a new attentive mindset toward the
Published Online: August 4, 2023 environment, not as a space to be conquered for our exclusive own sake, but as one
scenario of sustainable co-existence with the rest of the natural world.
© 2023 Author(s). This is an open-
access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 Keywords: Synthetic biology; Bionic architecture; Evolution; Adaptability; Sustainability;
International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which Partnership
permits all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work
is properly cited.
1. Introduction
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with The history of architecture is one of human attempts to dominate tridimensional
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional (3D) space for the sake of habitability (March & Stiny, 1985). Successive technological
affiliations. innovations have often contributed to this end. New materials and new mathematical

Volume 5 Issue 3 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0619