ELEMENT
| Our habitat
Bradbury studios, an award winning building, is our new home! We are delighted to announce that we have moved to one of the most lively, multicultural, vibrant public squares in London. Exciting times ahead!
\ Humanitarian event
We participated at the Pecha-Kucha event 'Earthquake Resilience - built environment and nature-based solutions', organised by the Humanitarian Landscape Collective (Home | Humanitarian LC)
Eleni introduced the MetaBiosis.Lab project and talked about her research in Tohoku, studying Disaster Preventive Parks and talking to the communities to record the post-design response and also the importance of volunteering to recover from a natural disaster. Emphasis was given to nature-based solutions such as the Millennium Hope Hills Parks, a vision described as The Great Forest Wall, based on the Miyawaki method to reforestation. A fascinating approach which is going to be the core focus of our project for the coming years.
A big thank you to the Humanitarian Collective Team who invited us.
| Creating places
Sketching to present ideas or to get inspiration is a fantastic tool and a very creative, fun process.
Here are a few sketches illustrating our landscape proposal for our project in Rochester. A tree-lined avenue, a playground, a gathering public space and a memorial garden - the Garden of Life, are created to celebrate the site's history and character. A big thank you to the team!
| MetaBiosis.Lab news
What a wonderful start of the year! We have secured another funding from the Sasakawa Foundation to continue our research to study the post-disaster mitigation measures taken in the Tohoku region in north-eastern Japan.
The onsite visit is planned for Autumn 2024.
| Happy birthday!
We are celebrating our FIRST YEAR!
A big thank you to all who supported us, who embarked on this adventure and to all who trust us to create places for all sentient beings!
March 2024
'In their Element' series
| Unconventional relationships
This fascinating habitat can be found in Tsutsujigahara, in Hokkaido, Japan. A volcanic environment with highly acidic soil gives the area at Mount Io an unusual ecosystem. It is created by plants which have managed to be dominant and thrive there, such as Japanese stone pines and Labrador tea, normally found at much higher altitudes, grow in this place despite the area being at a low elevation of 150 meters. They co-exist with birch trees, lichens and delicate crowberries creating a stunning scenery all year round. A marvelous example of wisdom, survival, resilience and beauty, shaped by nature's enduring artistry.
It’s always refreshing to be around young people—full of energy, excitement, and fresh ideas. Our Director, Eleni Mente, was honored to join the Final Design Review Panel to review and celebrate the work of the MA students in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism.
"Landscapes around edges" is a theme we’ve been exploring through the MetaBiosis.Lab, so taking part in these discussions truly felt like being in our element.
We’re excited to see the students' final projects come to life. Best of luck to everyone!
| Design Reviews at Kingston School
of Art
| BLOOM Framework
We are pleased to have been accepted as an accredited supplier with Bloom Procurement Services which offers a dynamic supply chain providing the public sector with a marketplace to buy and manage professional services to achieve better outcomes.
The NEPRO3 framework ensures delivery of quality outcomes from a pre-approved network of suppliers.
For more details about Bloom, see below:
\ Kyoto story
Yuhei Nakajima, our project partner, presented our research work at the 18th International Landscape Architecture Symposium, held in Kyoto from 10th till 12th November 2023. Next stop to be announced!
\ New Collaborations
We are delighted to announce the win of two new projects. A residential scheme in collaboration with BPTW Architects and an educational project with Savills, both with their Urban Design teams. A big thank you to the Directors and leaders of the teams who value highly the collaboration of both disciplines and promote landscape-led masterplan projects.
Looking forward to working together!
\ MetaBiosis.Lab news
Phase 2 was completed in November 2024 with many useful, surprising and fascinating findings.
We look forward to sharing our experience with all. Keep an eye on the publications to follow.
\ Healing from nature's force with Nature
We’re thrilled to kick off the year with some incredible news: our work has been featured in Scape Magazine—an internationally acclaimed publication for landscape architecture.
Our ongoing project in Japan, which explores themes of natural disasters, boundaries, and the role of landscape in creating spaces of protection and memory, is showcased in their latest issue.
An immense thank you to our amazing collaborators and to the editors of Scape Magazine for recognizing our work and sharing it with such a vibrant and creative community.
\ Mnemosyne walks on Japan's Coastal Forest Walls
Curious about how forests and seawalls mingle in Tohoku?
The latest article on our MetaBiosis.Lab project published on Landezine will give you an idea.
https://landezine.com/disaster-preventive-parks-japans-coastal-forests/
\ World Design Congress
We are delighted to present our work in Japan as part of the MetaBiosis. Lab project and showcase our concept of 'Sentient Edges' in the exhibition during the congress.
We are looking forward to exchanging ideas with great designers and thinkers from around the world!
