INNOVATION
Neri Oxman and Bio-Architecture

“Neri Oxman: Material Ecology” was a really exciting exhibition shown in the MoMA from May to October 2020. The exhibit displayed the innovative natural conceptual samples or designed by Israeli designer and professor, Neri Oxman, and her team at MIT research university. Oxman has been described as a “visionary” who continues to research how we can create structures and materials using organic methods in combination with computer programming (Antonelli, 2020). I found the installation piece: “Silk Pavilion II” to be particularly innovative as it is a living and continually growing work of art. The organic sculpture stretches across the gallery space and appears visually like a several fine walls of white silk stretched from the ceiling creating an architectural form. The designer describes it as a “structure made by silk worms” and cites herself simply as their “guide” (Oxman, 2020) as while the outline of the structure was designed and printed using computer programming- it was simply a suggestion for a collection of nearly a thousand silk worms to work along to create the material. I found this research revolutionary as it exemplifies the Oxman’s wish to create a bridge between natural and man-made design which could change the creation of art and design forever.