Martina Taranto
Viral Nature
Viral Nature proposes a composite material, 84% organic, able to host life.
It can be applied to address the problem of desertification and soil degradation.
Embedded with plant seeds, fertile and easy to shape into three-dimensional structures – the material, detains humidity and absorbs water through capillarity.
The structures behave like ‘eco-viruses’. In them, pioneer plant seeds find favourable conditions to grow; the plants – matured – spread through the wind, contaminate the surroundings with native wild vegetation and trigger a primary ecological succession to reach the ecological climax.
The plants break the host’s structure and together will become humus to new soil.
During their life, the structures, attract biodiversity – from earthworms to pollinators.
My practice combines critical design methods with functionality and magical elements. Through design I try to generate behavioural and ethical reactions, envision worlds built on natural processes and materiality, enhance human intelligent sensibility in order to promote a superorganic natural world able to reach the ecological and ecosystemic balance.
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