Work
Weaving Ecologies in the Plantationocene
Weaving Ecologies is our contribution to the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
In the context of the Plantationocene—a term introduced by Donna Haraway and Anna Tsing to describe the environmental and social upheavals caused by plantation economies—this project examines the global production of bananas through the lenses of species origins, migrations, and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). It highlights how bananas are entangled with histories of trade and land occupation while emphasizing the resilience embedded in TEK as a counter to the ecological disruptions caused by plantation economies.
As the world’s most widely consumed fruit, bananas are cultivated on 5.6 million hectares of land worldwide. Native to South Asia, they have become a staple crop in the Global South, mirroring broader patterns of human migration and labor exploitation. However, monoculture farming practices have destabilized local ecosystems and generate approximately 115 million tons of agricultural waste annually. This project reimagines this waste—often dismissed as a byproduct of agriculture—as a resource for construction.
By extracting banana fibers and repurposing them as building materials, the project explores how agricultural waste can be transformed into resources that mitigate the environmental toll of industrial agriculture while reimagining architectural practices in alignment with TEK and principles of cultural and ecological sustainability. The project also underscores the multifaceted roles of the banana plant in craft, art, and architecture. It highlights TEK’s ingenuity in preserving ecological knowledge and resisting the homogenization of building methods. By embracing these narratives of resilience, the project envisions a future where architecture and TEK foster both ecological and social sustainability.
Location: Venice, Italy
Status: Completed in 2025