Dejan Todorović, Ivan Šuković, Emir Šehanović, Miljana Zeković, Jasmina Nikodinović-Runić, Mirjana Đurišić
https://doi.org/10.60152/3hpi55yv
Abstract: Terram Intelligere – Interstitium, Montenegro’s contribution to the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is presented as a case study in exploring cross-scalar, interdisciplinary architectural thinking. Rooted in the culturally and historically charged concept of međa — the dry-stone boundary lines that traverse the Montenegrin landscape — the project is both an artistic and scientific inquiry into how architecture can learn from the intelligence of natural-cultural landscapes and their living systems. Developed in partnership with the University of Belgrade – Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (UB – IMGGE), through collaboration among architects, microbiologists, visual artists, and designers, the project revolves around cultivating native Montenegrin bacteria that produce bio-pigments, nanocellulose, and bioplastics. These natural production processes, that are ordinarily invisible and often overlooked, come into focus through the modulation of space, light, and sound within the exhibition venue. The result is an installation that does not merely represent a landscape, but performs as one, showcasing ongoing material transformation. Situated between micro (biological) and macro (territorial) scales, Interstitium pursues a methodology of translation across spatial systems (from landscape to gallery space), material processes (from microbial life to architectural gestures), and discursive frameworks (from scientific observation to artistic expression), while asking: Which new forms of disciplinary cooperation could emerge when the boundaries between architecture, biology, and art are deliberately blurred? Could architecture operate across scales, as a medium that not only detects but also interprets, and materially articulates the intelligence of other species? Could architecture also become a platform for dismantling human dominance over the planet while imagining the future as a space of coexistence, attunement and shared agency? By focusing on the interstitial — what exists between scales, species, and disciplines — this project proposes a shift in architectural thinking: from mastering complexity to listening and attuning to it. This shift resonates with current discussions on interdisciplinary cooperation, situated design practices, and architecture’s ever evolving role as a mediator between human and nonhuman worlds.
Keywords: architectural thinking, cross-scalar translation, microbial intelligence, interdisciplinarity, human culture, microbial culture, Terram Intelligere – Interstitium
How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):
Todorović, D., Šuković, I., Šehanović, E., Zeković, M., Nikodinović-Runić, J. and Đurišić, M. (2025) ‘Interstitium In-Between Scales: Translating Microbial Intelligence into Architectural Thinking‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 104–110.
See publication On Architecture (2025) Conference Proceedings