Re-Designing the Living: Rethinking Sustainable Materials Through Biofabrication—A Case Study

This paper explores the emerging intersection of design and synthetic biology within the context of sustainable biomaterials and biotextile innovation. As the textile industry and materials manufacturing face increasing scrutiny for their environmental impact, designers are turning to living materials and biofabrication as strategies to regenerate ecological systems rather than depleting them. Drawing on a biomimetic approach, this study examines how the creative reconfiguration of biological processes enables the development of hybrid materials that blur the boundaries between the natural and the artificial. This article is based on a qualitative analysis of projects led by designer-biologists. It investigates how design can creatively harness biological intelligence to shape new sustainable biotextiles and biomaterials. These practices challenge conventional manufacturing paradigms and propose alternative design models that are grounded in the integration of living organisms and the systemic logic of nature.