The 27th edition of BIO, Europe’s longest standing design biennale (since 1963), staged and held by Ljubljana’s Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with the Center for Creativity, will be curated by Jane Withers, a leading design curator, writer, and consultant based in London.
Global expansion and the pursuit of profit at the planet’s expense have precipitated the climate crisis and accelerated a massive imbalance between humanity and the natural world. Super Vernaculars, Bio 27’s central theme, explores a growing and ambitious movement that takes inspiration from vernacular and indigenous architecture and design traditions around the world to shape a radical vision for a more resilient and responsive future.
The OPEN CALL invites local design and interdisciplinary collectives and teams to participate in the Super Vernaculars production platform by addressing one of the following three themes:
- Grains for Brains under the mentorship of Carolien Niebling, a designer and researcher who specialises in food-related projects.
- Communicating Modern Architecture under the mentorship of Adam Štěch. Adam has a master’s degree in the History of Art from Charles University in Prague and is a co-founder of the creative group OKOLO
- Water – Designing a BioVernacular under the mentorship of Shneel Malik, an architect, biodesign researcher, social entrepreneur and TEDx speaker.
We are looking for established collectives, teams or newly-formed project groups from the geographical region of Slovenia who will have the option to participate in one of the three projects themes of the bio 27 and the Centre for Creativity production platform.
Bio 27 amplifies the biennial strategy to reflect on and deepen inquiries into the future, while strengthening the local impacts. The emphasis will be on design that responds to local needs and contexts, the commissioned projects will draw on local conditions, resources and materials.
Applicants will be selected and invited by bio 27 curator Jane Withers in collaboration with bio 27 mentors and advisory board. The three teams selected from the Open Call will each work with a design mentor and various local experts.
To view the entire documentation, more detailed project presentations of projects and to complete the application, visit the website www.bio27.si.
We would kindly invite English speaking creatives as well. Two major biennial goals are: focusing on local knowledge (Slovene participants) and to lower our carbon footprint. However, if you live or work in Slovenia, please take a look at our website and apply!