In dialogue with the living world

I am a designer and researcher whose work explores how architecture can grow and evolve through living processes. My journey began in Indonesia, where I studied architecture and learned to see design as a dialogue between people, materials, and the environment. During my Master of Design Innovation and Technology at RMIT University in Melbourne, I discovered my passion for biodesign: a way of thinking that uses biological processes to reach more sustainable and regenerative forms of design. Throughout my studies, I explored different approaches to living materials and participated in the Biodesign Challenge in New York in 2019, where my team became a finalist. I was also part of the BioCities research group in Melbourne, contributing to exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria, and my master’s project, Architectural Decay, was exhibited at the London Design Biennale.

Today, I continue this path as a PhD researcher at KU Leuven, working between the BioTeC+ research group (Faculty of Engineering Technology) and the Regenerative Architecture, Art and Design (RAAD) research group (Faculty of Architecture). My research explores how biological systems—particularly fungal growth and mineral formation—can contribute to more regenerative and circular approaches to architecture.

Coming from a design background, I have immersed myself in the fundamentals of science—studying biotechnology, predictive microbiology, and material processes—to understand how life itself can become a collaborator in architectural creation. My work sits at the intersection of architecture and biochemical engineering, bridging disciplines that rarely meet. I also share this knowledge by teaching across both faculties, believing that learning across fields opens new ways of seeing and making.

My practice moves between science and design: studying how materials live, grow, and interact, and translating that understanding into architectural thinking. I see design as an act of care—a way of working slowly, learning from nature, and shaping materials that can one day return to it.