BioLogic - living structures and swarm bodies

Over the past few decades, biology has entered the collective debate more than any other science field [1]. One main reason for this is possibly that such investigative field is highly concerned with subjects and issues that affect each of us; phenomena, which are still mysterious and fascinating as life itself. We have been learning that organisms, when considered as organized information, can be utilized combining different features in order to perform specific functions (e.g. plants' genetics). As renewed artist and researcher Oron Catts stated: "Biology is becoming engineering, life is becoming a raw material to be engineered. Once that happens designers will move in and start designing living biological products." [2] While critically observing and questioning this potential through a designer's lens, we cannot be careless about the contribution of scientific advancements that enable a paradigm shift in respect to the design tools, changing them from a system of representation of a product to a direct materialisation of the product through novel specific manufacturing processes, where designing and making tasks take place simultaneously (i.e.3D modelling/printing). [3] This, by defining a new balance between the autonomy of the process itself and the will of the designer, giving life to a renovated vision for the construction of the world we live in and of our systems and tools, allowing us to trigger sensitive interactions with the cycles of the ecosystems we are part of. Understanding the complex dynamics characterising organic systems could in fact allow us to design by means of already largely available resources, making use of logics and processes that are already embedded in living systems. How do biological entities and digital algorithms relate to each other? How could the study of such interaction be visualised, its potential harnessed and the outcomes translated into a more tangible and immediate experience? And what would be the applications and the implications which could derive from such a study? Which disciplines could be affected? --- 1 Biology is nowadays conceived not only as a form of technology but also as the new design playground, which will strongly affect the near future (e.g. activities and projects from Ideo, Autodesk, MIT, etc.) 2 See video at: [https://www.facebook.com/virtualfutures/videos/1436687913049392/](https://www.facebook.com/virtualfutures/videos/1436687913049392/) 3 "Alphabet and the Algorithm" - Mario Carpo: " ... things go even deeper when we can set behavioral rules that dictate both morphology and physiology of what we are making...