Abstract: Holobiontic architecture reimagines buildings as dynamic, multispecies ecosystems—spaces where humans, microbes, and environmental forces interact in continuous exchange. Within this framework, buildings are understood as meta-holobionts: nested assemblages of holobionts that include human occupants, microbial consortia, and environmental agents. This vision centres on the concept of the building-as-reef—an architectural typology that promotes biodiversity, supports regenerative processes, and secures ecological relationships. Like coral reefs, these buildings provide habitat, structure, and metabolic function, transforming the built environment into a scaffold for life. The design strategy that shapes microbial colonization on building surfaces is eco-ornamentation: the intentional crafting of textured, patterned surfaces to support microbial life. These surfaces are not merely decorative; they are biocatalytic, hosting metabolically active organisms that contribute to carbon fixation, pollutant degradation, and redox cycling. In anaerobic zones, advanced bioelectrochemical systems embedded within wastewater infrastructure act as biosensors and metabolic processors, enabling buildings to sense, adapt, and participate in biogeochemical cycles. In contrast to modernist ideals of sterility and minimalism, holobiontic design embraces managed mutualism, where hygiene is reconceived as the cultivation of beneficial microbial communities. Ornamentation becomes a site of ecological function, merging aesthetic expression with biological performance. At the urban scale, individual structures operate as nodes in distributed microbial infrastructures—forming city scale immune systems capable of responding to environmental stressors in real time. This expanded view positions architecture within a broader ecological continuum, where built forms participate in multispecies networks that span scales and domains. Holobiontic architecture thus offers a new protocol for cohabitation: a spatial and biological contract grounded in reciprocity, ecological intelligence, and multispecies collaboration. It provides practical tools for regeneration and a transformative design ethic—one that aligns human habitation with the microbial systems that sustain planetary life.
How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):
Armstrong, R. (2025) ‘Holobiontic Architecture: From Monologue to Multispecies Dialogue‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 76–88.
9th International Conference and Exhibition Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Gallery of Science and Technology Belgrade, Serbia
Special AwardS
The Special Awards were presented ahead of the ON ARCHITECTURE 10-year anniversary on behalf of STRAND by Professor Ružica Bogdanović, chairperson of the ON ARCHITECTURE 2021 and the Exhibition Jury Members Nora Lefa (Greece), Aleksandra Stupar (Serbia) and Stahl Stenslie (Norway).
The Awards were given to Professor Rachel Armstrong, Liam Young and Dejan Grba for their continuous contribution and participation through Keynote Lectures and Exhibits showcasing visionary projects in the field of architecture, technology and art.
Special Award TO Rachel Armstrong
Rachel was awarded the Special Award to Outstanding Individuals for continuous contribution to experimental architecture, particularly through the visionary projects of Vibrant Architecture and Living Architecture.
The occasion is participation in the ON ARCHITECTURE 2021 Conference with Lecture by invitation. Browse Lecture Abstract and Biography at www.strand.rs/rachel-armstrong-keynoter/
Rachel Armstrong is tenured Professor of Experimental Architecture at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, Visiting Professor at KU Leuven, a Senior TED Fellow and a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Rising Waters II confab Fellow.
Rachel’s contribution through the years presented at the ON ARCHITECTURE series by STRAND:
MICROBIAL CITIES, WICKED HOMES AND IMMUNOLOGICAL URBANISM Lecture as Invited Speaker at Conference On Architecture 2021
WITCH BOTTLES MOON WRITING VENUS WRITING Presented as Invited Author at Exhibition On Architecture 2016
HANGING GARDENS OF MEDUSA: FIRST STRATOSPHERIC SKY GARDEN WITH PROTO LIFE Presented at Exhibition On Architecture 2015
AN ARCHITECTURAL ECOLOGY OF SPACE: ECOPOIESIS AND THE EARTHBOUND Lecture as Invited Speaker at Conference On Architecture 2014
VIBRANT ARCHITECTURE Lecture at Conference On Architecture 2013
PROTOCELL Installation presented at Exhibition On Architecture 2013
Special Award TO LIAM YOUNG
Liam was awarded the Special Award to Outstanding Individuals for continuous contribution to experimental architecture, particularly through the visionary projects in the field of speculative architecture and urbanism.
The occasion is participation in the ON ARCHITECTURE 2021 Conference with Lecture by invitation and presenting the project at the Exhibition. Browse Lecture Abstract and Biography at www.strand.rs/liam-young-keynoter/
Liam Young is a speculative architect and director who operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. He is cofounder of Tomorrows Thoughts Today, an urban futures think tank and Unknown Fields, a nomadic research. Currently runs the ground breaking Masters in Fiction and Entertainment at SCI Arc in Los Angles. He has published several books including the recent Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the Post Anthropocene and Planet City, a story of a fictional city for the entire population of the earth.
Liam’s contribution through the years presented at the ON ARCHITECTURE and GOING DIGITAL series by STRAND:
PLANET CITY AND THE RETURN OF GLOBAL WILDERNESS Lecture as Invited Speaker at Conference On Architecture 2021
PLANET CITY Film presented at Exhibition On Architecture 2021
CITY EVERYWHERE: KIM KARDASHIAN AND THE DARK SIDE OF THE SCREEN Lecture at Conference Going Digital 2015
BRAVE NEW NOW Lecture at Conference On Architecture 2014
UNDER TOMORROW’S SKY (with Daniel Dociu) SUPERCITY SKYLINES Multimedia projects presented at Exhibition On Architecture 2014
Special Award TO DEJAN GRBA
Dejan was awarded the Special Award to Exceptional Individuals for continuous contribution to new media art, particularly through the projects in the field of artificial intelligence and digital art.
The occasion is participation in the ON ARCHITECTURE 2021 Conference with Lecture by invitation and presenting the project at the Exhibition.
Dejan Grba is an artist, researcher and scholar who explores the cognitive, technical, poetic, and relational aspects of generative systems. He has exhibited in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and published papers in journals, conference proceedings, and books worldwide. He has served as a Co-founding Associate Professor with Digital Art Program at Interdisciplinary Graduate Center, University of the Arts in Belgrade since 2005, and as a Founding Chair and Associate Professor at New Media Department, Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade from 1998 to 2020. In 2019/2020, Dejan was a Visiting Associate Professor at the ADM/NTU in Singapore.
Dejan’s contribution through the years presented at the ON ARCHITECTURE and GOING DIGITAL series by STRAND:
BRITTLE OPACITY: AMBIGUITIES OF THE CREATIVE AI Lecture as Invited Speaker at Conference On Architecture 2021
STUDY 7/0 (with Philippe Kocher) ERROR-GENERATED SPATIO TEMPORAL ANIMATION Project presented at Exhibition On Architecture 2021
GOING POST-DIGITAL PRESENTING AND PROMOTING DIGITAL ART WITHIN CONTEMPORARY DIGITAL CULTURE Lecture at Conference Going Digital 2018
AVOID SETUP: INSIGHTS AND IMPLICATIONS OF GENERATIVE CINEMA Lecture at Conference Going Digital 2016
GET LUCKY: COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF GENERATIVE ART Lecture at Conference On Architecture 2015
ANTICIPATIONS Installation presented at ExhibitionOn Architecture 2015
TRANSSAMPLER Project presented at ExhibitionOn Architecture 2015
I CITE (VERY) ART: (RE)CREATIVITY IN CONTEMPORARY ART Lecture at Conference Going Digital 2015
