Postgraduate courses
Our research has contributed to the development of new pedagogies centred on living systems principles, with the validation of new courses such as MA Biodesign (2019) and MA Regenerative Design (2022 – via Maison/0) and the delivery of novel learning opportunities in, with and for nature such as site-responsive residencies and co-enquiry methodologies.
We initiated the creation of the Grow Lab at Central Saint Martins which opened in 2019, a specialist hybrid biolab space dedicated to connecting biological tools in the support of art and design practices.
Other curriculum initiatives include:
Scientist in Residence (SiR) programme (2024, 2022, 2019)
The Living Systems Lab hosts an innovative Scientist in Residence (SiR) programme offering CSM postgraduate students the opportunity to collaborate with leading scientists, interrogate their cutting-edge research and experiment with transdisciplinarity in action through hacking practices. The project is part of STADHI (Science & Technology + Art & Design Hybrid Innovation), a transdisciplinary research collaboration based at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, established with Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London since 2017. STADHI Academic Lead for CSM is Heather Barnett.
The Nature of Place (2022)
The Nature of Place engaged CSM students (from MA Art and Science and M ARCH: Architecture) in a site-responsive residency with Allenheads Contemporary Art Centre in Northumberland, a rural site dedicated to the development of creative practices in connection with science, human geography, astronomy, the environment and philosophy. Allenheads is situated in the North Pennines in an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), with much land affected by centuries of human extraction and adaptation, through lead mining, peat harvesting, and farming practices. The aim of the residency was to develop ‘land pedagogies’ and provide a case study for rural, immersive learning experiences. The residency was led by Heather Barnett and Andreas Lang in association with the Living Systems Lab and supported by the Knowledge Exchange Impact Fund.
Digital Innovation Season | biology.is.digital (2022)
The Living Systems Lab collaborated with colleagues at CSM to curate a season of talks and workshops inviting students to examine the intersection of biology and the digital sphere to expand ecological knowledge. The programme of online and in-person events explored how nature inspires technology and, in turn, how technology impacts nature, bringing together biologists, software engineers, artists and designers who are computing structures inspired by living systems, growing robots organically, and transporting information with biological signals.
Entangled Futures (2021-22)
A student-curated series of lectures and workshops organized by Maite Pastor Blanco and Laurane Le Goff (MA Art and Science, Central Saint Martins), produced in association with the UAL Climate Emergency Network (CEN) and London LASER talks. This program stimulated critical and creative thinking about ongoing ecological change, by understanding and rethinking some of the challenges posed by the Anthropocene era. The project was supported by Kate Pelen and Abbi Fletcher (CEN) and supervised by Heather Barnett.