CONQ at Biennale Architettura 2025
Associated Member Heidi Jalkh Presents Marine Biobased Building Materials in Venice
CONQ, Heidi Jalkh & Angie Dub
Cluster member Heidi Jalkh and Angie Dub have been invited to contribute to the Biennale Architettura 2025, curated by Carlo Ratti. The theme of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition is Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. Their project CONQ – Marine biobased building materials, will be part of the Arsenale Exhibition: Matter Makes Sense. The Venice Biennale will be open to the public from Saturday, May 10th to Sunday, November 23th, 2025.
Within CONQ, environmental architect Angie Dub and experimental designer Heidi Jalkh, based in Buenos Aires, are finding ways to turn this so-called waste into a sustainable material for the built environment. By combining crushed seashells with algae-based biopolymers, they create a heat-free bioceramic* made entirely from marine biomass. In the current phase, material samples are undergoing testing to determine their physical properties and characteristics. These evaluations will inform and guide the exploration of possible implementation scenarios for the material in various applications.
Collaborators:
Lorenzo Rossi
Technical Collaborators:
Dana Sáez, RWTH Aachen University (Material testing); Arturo De La Fuente, Donatella Araujo Lefosse, Ian Giribaldi, Lucas Shigihara, Miguel Sanchez, Tomas Lupinucci, and Emilia Massa, MSH Lab (Structural mounting system development); Ernesto Marceca, CONICET (Chemistry advisor); Juliana Giménez, CONICET (Malacology advisor); Maxi Rossi, Ultramarinos (Material source); Geraldine Gastaldo, Gabriel Oggero, Crizia Restaurant (Material source)
Team Members:
Micaela Fernandes (Graphic design)
Azul Sanseverino (3D visualization)
Supporters:
Bauhaus Earth, Experimental Foundation, Grupo MSH
CONQ was developed within the framework of the Experimental Fellowship at Bauhaus Earth.
