Ecological Futures in Design

This conversation explores the future of ecological design beyond “sustainable materials” —shifting the dialog from replacing one material with another, and instead rethinking our relationship to matter itself. New ecologies of design are emerging as a practice of building interdependency: with ecosystems, with communities, and with non-human life. This panel conversation brings together practitioners across the design world in architecture, materials design, human-computer interfaces, fashion, and industrial design for a dialog on the frontiers of new design ecologies with biomaterials. 

From extraction and consumption toward participation, reciprocity, and new forms of exchange – biomaterials are becoming a medium for new relationships between the built and living world:

• Ocean Ecosystem Regeneration with Sea Urchin Architectural Surfaces | Virj Kan –  Marblis by Primitives
• Biobased & Natural materials adoption in the Built Environment | Teresa Jan –  Perkins&Will
• Dialog on the paradox of making in a climate crisis through fashion | Stella Harry Lee – WithRawMaterials 
• Narrative Futures that create awareness and mindfulness around ecology through Fungi | Jerome Tavé – 10th Floor Studio
• Biomaterials and Biosensors: From Growable Interfaces to Biosensing Cosmetics | Katia Vega – Interactive Organisms Lab, UC Davis

Virj Kan – Marblis by Primitives  

Virj Kan is a designer, materials engineer, and the Founder of Primitives. Primitives is a biodesign lab that develops advanced materials to restore nature’s balance. Through cutting-edge materials science, innovative design, and environmental science, Primitives is working to reshape the modern materials landscape into a platform that drives nature and biodiversity regeneration. Its architectural surfaces brand, MARBLIS™ brings this vision to the built environment and introduces a new class of stone surfaces called biocalcite, engineered to support ecosystem repair and design performance. Its debut innovation, Urchinite™ is a biocalcite surface made from ecologically destructive purple sea urchins, designed to restore kelp forests and regenerate ocean biodiversity.

Teresa Jan –  Perkins&Will 

Teresa Jan is an architect and urbanist who leads design with curiosity and a deep commitment to community, nature, and their evolving interconnections. She brings a regenerative design ethos to diverse project types, striving to advance climate justice through inclusive, place-based solutions. Teresa listens with intention, embracing complexity and the nuanced needs of each project to foster meaningful connections between people and the broader climate culture. A passionate advocate for healthy and resilient communities, she promotes equitable building decarbonization and views all-electric cooking as a vital step toward a climate-aligned future. Teresa recently served as a content leader for The Building Decarbonization Practice Guide: A Zero Carbon Future for the Built Environment. She was a juror for the 2023 AIA Architecture Awards and remains active with AIASF COTE. Teresa also serves on the Northern California Regional Leadership Advisory Board for USGBC-CA. Currently, she is the Director of Regenerative Design at Perkins & Will architects. 

Stella Harry Lee – WithRawMaterials

Stella is a material and product designer exploring the future of materials and our evolving relationship with them. With a background in fiber arts, she began by working closely with the raw ingredients of clothing—spinning, dyeing, and understanding their origins. Later, her time at corporate fashion companies challenged her to think more critically about the lifecycle of products and the systems behind them. In response to the endless consumerism in the context of the climate crisis, her latest work shifts focus toward biodegradable and bio-based materials like seaweed, algae yarn, mycelium, and fish skin. Her work now aims to bridge the worlds of science and consumers through product and textile design.

Jerome Tavé – 10th Floor Studio 

Jerome Tavé (he/him) is an artist with a background in design and has worked as an interaction designer for a variety of companies and design groups, in addition to teaching in the Web & New Media program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Over the last 6 years, Jerome has incorporated fungi as a central part of his work. By experimenting with materials, and presenting them in new ways, Jerome hopes to explore narratives for new futures, while creating awareness and mindfulness around ecology. 10th Floor Studio is a conceptual art studio operated by Jerome Tavé and Kyle Lawson focusing on works that envision futures they want to see and build together.

Katia Vega – Interactive Organisms Lab, UC Davis

Katia Vega is an Associate Professor in the Department of Design at the University of California, Davis, where she founded and directs the Interactive Organisms Lab. Her research integrates human–computer interaction, biotechnology, and wearable technologies to explore how the body and living systems can serve as platforms for computing. She introduced Beauty Technology (electronics embedded into cosmetics) and has since expanded her work to Biocosmetic Interfaces for discreet, non-invasive health monitoring with cosmetics, Animal Biosensing Computing for biosensing on animals biofluids, and Growable Interfaces that employ bio-based materials for sustainable devices.