TERRA, 2025-
TERRA captures multiple layers of microbial traces from two distinct landscapes: Milan and Antwerp. The first layer is constructed with bacteria sourced from the Parco Sempione, an urban park encircling the Triennale building whose grounds were once a former nineteenth-century parade field, and the Bosco di Riazzolo, a protected woodland south of the city, where native plant and animal life have endured since the area served as a medieval hunting preserve. The flora that sustains this soil today echoes descriptions found in Virgil’s ancient poems, written over two millennia ago. The second layer reveals an entirely different microbial history: bacterial colonies have been grown from soil samples of the gardens of De Singel and from Wolvenberg, the only preserved pieces of nature within Antwerp’s city limits.
Soil samples from both sites were cultivated on agar, revealing a vivid unfolding of microbial behavior. Colonies bloomed in intricate formations—some growing until they met and intertwined, others halting at invisible borders, forming stark zones of repulsion. These interactions mapped a dynamic network of cooperation, competition, and spatial negotiation. By staining the colonies and sealing them in resin, these fleeting biological expressions are preserved—offering a glimpse into the quiet vitality that thrives just beneath the surface.
TERRA invites reflection on the human role in shaping microbial ecologies. Despite coming from vastly different climates, the two microbial communities are rich and diverse and speak to the lasting imprint of human intervention—through conservation, expansion, or neglect. These fleeting microbial expressions illuminate the quiet but profound life that thrives beneath our feet and invites viewers to consider the unseen living architectures we continuously shape through our presence
In 2025, TERRA was exhibited at We the Bacteria: Notes Towards Biotic Architecture as part of the Triennale di Milano’s 24th International Exhibition Inequalities in Milan, Italy.
In 2026, TERRA was restored and exhibited at We the Bacteria: Notes Towards Biotic Architecture at Vlaams Architectuurinstituut in DE SINGEL in Antwerp, Belgium. Photography by Dieter Daniels.