The exhibition presents three projects developed by students of the postgraduate study programme in Industrial Design at the UL ALUO, who were invited to take part in the Biodesign Challenge 2025 competition. Biodesign is a relatively young field within design that conceptually connects the biological sciences, art, technology and design, and transcends the traditional frameworks of design practice through its research-driven approach. The students created a space for reflection on biodesign through multilayered artistic and design research – combining material experimentation, speculative design and in-depth cultural reflection – situated within a broader sustainability framework and articulated more specifically through questions of resource and raw material management.
The exhibited projects address three different environments:
Seapack explores the marine ecosystem,
WOODn’t it be nice? explores the forest ecosystem,
What remains? explores human transience.
The What remains? project was presented by a group of three students in June 2025 as a finalist project in New York at the Parsons School of Design and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). It is a speculative design project that examines contemporary burial practices. By transforming blood and hair – two deeply personal and symbolically rich materials – the team developed a biodegradable composite from which an urn was created, enabling a thoughtful return of the body to the earth. The material is designed to support the body’s reintegration into the natural cycle of decay and the continued circulation of raw materials. The project thus offers not only material innovation, but also opens a space for reflection on our relationship with death, mourning and the legacy we leave behind. It proposes a new perspective: mourning with humility, designing with care and returning to nature with an awareness of transience.
The WOODn’t it be nice? project addresses the complex intertwining of relationships within the forest ecosystem, which are often overlooked or neglected due to capitalist interests. The ever-increasing drive for economic growth has transformed forests from diverse, multicultural systems into distinctly monocultural ones. This has led to imbalances that threaten biodiversity and contribute to the spread of “green deserts”, which in turn cause the degradation of natural ecosystems. The project explores the excessive reproduction of the bark beetle without seeing this insect as a culprit, but instead as an indicator of anthropocentric interventions in forests, thereby raising questions about forest management in a post-anthropocentric context. The proposed designs – an educational facility and a facility conceived as a hub for multipurpose activities – provide a starting point for understanding the issue from a new perspective and offer a first step towards creating more resilient forests and managing them in a more thoughtful manner.
The third project, Seapack, focuses on issues of marine biodiversity and ecosystem health. As a solution, it proposes a biomaterial for packaging developed from dried seaweed collected on the Slovenian coast, where it is typically treated as waste and incinerated. Seapack is a biodegradable, compostable alternative to petroleum-based packaging foams. By transforming organic coastal waste into a useful material, the project not only reduces environmental damage but also envisions a future in which packaging created by the sea, and “from the sea”, can safely return to it.
Participating students:
The What remains? project: Jaka Kordiš, Matic Lesjak, Črt Štrubelj
The WOODn't it be nice? project: Zoja Čepin, Maša Kralj, Jure Kralj, Klara Maček, Leon Rojk Štupar
The Seapack project: Marko Gorenak, Anja Tudjan, Umihana Dizdarević, Nina Vranješ
Mentors: Prof. Barbara Prinčič, MA; Assoc. Prof. Dr Barbara Predan; Prof. Jure Miklavc; Assist. Tamara Lašič Jurković; Assist. Tim Prezelj
Authors of the exhibition concept and design: Zoja Čepin, Marko Gorenak, Jaka Kordiš, Klara Maček
Mala Galerija curator: Ema Kobal
Production: University of Ljubljana
