Growing Design - The natural alchemy of becoming.

About the talk:

We live in a time of separation, from fellow humans as well as from Nature. The Anthropocene, as inevitable result of core factors such as mankind’s activities and overall selfish behaviours, is dominantly impacting on climate, ecosystem and society at large, as we face major disruptions and challenges such as - to name few - the extinction of entire species, the loss of biodiversity, the depletion of natural resources, the incremental raise of global temperatures, increasing inequalities, perpetrated discriminations, etc.

As part of this complex condition, one thing is for sure: the future isn’t about erecting barriers, but it is rather about learning to come together, understanding our relationship to Nature and its many agents, deciphering their interconnected functioning and becoming once again pivotal part of it all.

Based on such context, the keynote presentation will function as space for inspiration, critical reflections, factual demonstrations, and collective creative production, encouraging the audience to actively engage in questioning dominant narratives and traditional production paradigms.

By diving into the kingdom of Fungi and unravelling some of the opportunities that emerge from processes of active entanglement and cooperation with such skilful teachers and companions, we will jointly explore how their very body - and the transitionally regenerative processes that fungal mycelium embodies and triggers - can support us in promoting a radical paradigm shift, leading to a revised notion of growth, as deriving from radical transformations rooted in sensorial encounters.

Thus, contributing to positively impact both human and non-human societies, seeking balance between the role of the individual and the complexity of the relational ecosystem he’s immersed in.

About the speaker:

Maurizio is a designer, researcher, educator, and entrepreneur whose work sits primarily at the intersection of design and biotechnology.

Since 2010, through his practice Officina Corpuscoli (NL), he has pioneered the integration of living systems into material innovation, broadening their applications across diverse fields and crafting new ecologically- driven paradigms that merge design, aesthetics, and technology - favouring the (re-) emergence of positive symbiotic relations among the spheres of living, and beyond.

The studio’s projects mostly stem from critical explorations in regard to contemporary material culture as well as on a continued attempt to decipher the way in which human and non-human agents come together within the relational complexity of the dynamic ecosystem we belong to. By distilling research and analysis through the materialisation of tangible narratives, his work strives for the creation of visions and conditions that allow for critically resonant experiences.

Working at the junction of design and biotech, Maurizio is one of the early pioneers committed to the study and development of wide-ranging mycelium-based technologies, focusing on the creation of multiple classes of innovative biomaterials and of the related artefacts and products.

In 2015, he co-founded SQIM Srl (IT), a cutting-edge innovation company that develops (bio-)technologies in collaboration with living organisms and natural systems, giving shape to high-performance, sustainable materials. As Chief Mycelium Officer, today Maurizio plays a key role in articulating and advancing SQIM’s dual-branded vision — transforming radical concepts into tangible, scalable realities. SQIM’s pioneering brands, Ephea and Mogu, embody this ethos: the former is redefining the fashion landscape through new bio-fabricated materials’ classes, while the latter is reshaping interior design and architecture with naturally- born products for the everyday.. Together, they represent a new generation of biomaterials and biobased products —merging natural intelligence, aesthetic sensibility, and everyday functionality.

Maurizio has extensive experience in education, priorly serving as Artistic Director and Tutor of dieDAS - Design Akademie Saaleck (DE), co-heading the MAD Master (Materialisation in Art and Design) at Sandberg Instituut - Amsterdam, researching at Design Academy Eindhoven, and teaching, lecturing, and mentoring in various Dutch and international academies and universities.

Honoured with numerous awards, Maurizio’s work has gained global recognition — his innovative contributions have been widely featured in major international media outlets and showcased in renowned museums and institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Design Museum (London), the Triennale (Milano), and the Nobel Prize Museum, (Stockholm), among others.

About the panelists:

Panelists will be announced soon!

About the talk series:

Today, the study and practice of design are in great flux. We are amidst the biggest socio-economic transformation since the 1750s, experiencing the fifth Industrial Revolution. There is a growing pressure to transition economies driven by extractive, wasteful and polluting logics towards systems designed to fit the planetary limits. Such transformation requires the design of new types of products and services, as well as new systems and approaches to large-scale changes.

At the same time, design as a practice area is also changing. It is shifting away from a more rigidly defined practice of professionally trained designers creating graphics, objects and spaces towards a practice that is loosely defined, fuzzy and seemingly omnipresent. Many have been calling for democratizing design and recognizing the efforts of non-professional designers. Design thinking, methods and practices have entered many contexts, including governance, jurisprudence, sciences and activism. The design community has been grappling with the ever-expanding definitions of what design is and who a designer is.

This talk series invites design professionals, students, academics and anyone interested in these challenges to a series of conversations. Each event features a scene-setting lecture by a leading practitioner and thinker followed by open discussion. Three themes give focus to the series: digital, societal and material transformations. What is design’s role in these transformations? How do we generate new know-how to support the needed transitions, and what examples already exist that we can learn from? What stands in the way of progress towards equitable, diverse, and sustainable lives, and what is the role of design in removing such blockages? What are design and designers in this new context?

Department of Design at Aalto University invites you to join our conversations to explore what design is, can and should be in the 21st Century.

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