Bio-Integrated Design MArch

UCL (University College London)

Our habitat today is being fundamentally shaped by revolutions in biotechnology, computation and climate change. Bio-Integrated Design takes these life-changing phenomena as the foundation to explore radical, sophisticated, yet also critical, design solutions that will shape our future society. Our urban environments are increasingly shaped by breakthroughs in biotechnology, computational design, and the urgent challenges of climate change. The Bio-Integrated Design MArch responds to these transformative forces by exploring radical and sophisticated design solutions that integrate living systems directly into the built environment. Nature is at the heart of the course—not just as inspiration, but as an active agent within the design process. Students explore solutions that integrate biological, material, and social systems to envision more resilient and responsive future cities. Jointly taught by The Bartlett School of Architecture and the Department of Biochemical Engineering, this pioneering master's degree brings together an interdisciplinary community of academics, practitioners, and students. The course blends conceptual design thinking with laboratory-based experimentation, combining iterative design processes with emerging techniques in synthetic biology, material science, and computational modelling. Students engage with living matter as a design material, applying biological growth and biofabrication techniques to create innovative products, systems, and environments that address the needs of the built environment. The Bio-Integrated Design MArch is ideal for students with an undergraduate degree in architecture, architectural engineering, landscape architecture and design-related degrees such as fine art, industrial and graphic design.