In the next 100 years we can expect human population to reach 11 billion people. Is this sustainable? We used the Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion Map to communicate an all-encompassing view of the world, and look at the 25 densest cities on the planet Earth. Our Bio City Map displays population density as a parametric graph on the front. The back focuses on each of these cities, designed and grown inside petri dishes. We chose colonies of E. coli as a method of analog computation. Population density was represented in two different forms of bioluminescent E. coli under UV light.
Glowing red E. coli represented future census projections, while green represented existing demographic conditions you would find in cities. We used the dilution method in biology to show the range of densities of E. coli populations in each petri dish. Stencils derived from CAD files would shape the E. coli into specific geometries that would show or display the current conditions in cities. This is an interdisciplinary project because cartographers, urban planners, biologists, and architects, were all working to think about a map of the near future of human population.
We argue that most nations cannot view the effects of planetary population density through the lens of just one city or region. Instead we aim to reveal the long-range effects of massive human population in areas of present and future urban intensity. We used the technique of "bacteriography" (bacteria photography) to shift scale and underscore the highest zones of growth. Ultimately, the bacterial photos grow to reveal variant patterns of biological transformation in urban regions. By using bio lab based materials, we expect to narrow the gap between idealized mathematical interpretations and observable events in nature.
Links: - https://vimeo.com/95821223
In the next 100 years we can expect human population to reach 11 billion people. Is this sustainable? We used the Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion Map to communicate an all-encompassing view of the world, and look at the 25 densest cities on the planet Earth. Our Bio City Map displays population density as a parametric graph on the front. The back focuses on each of these cities, designed and grown inside petri dishes. We chose colonies of E. coli as a method of analog computation. Population density was represented in two different forms of bioluminescent E. coli under UV light.
Glowing red E. coli represented future census projections, while green represented existing demographic conditions you would find in cities. We used the dilution method in biology to show the range of densities of E. coli populations in each petri dish. Stencils derived from CAD files would shape the E. coli into specific geometries that would show or display the current conditions in cities. This is an interdisciplinary project because cartographers, urban planners, biologists, and architects, were all working to think about a map of the near future of human population.
We argue that most nations cannot view the effects of planetary population density through the lens of just one city or region. Instead we aim to reveal the long-range effects of massive human population in areas of present and future urban intensity. We used the technique of "bacteriography" (bacteria photography) to shift scale and underscore the highest zones of growth. Ultimately, the bacterial photos grow to reveal variant patterns of biological transformation in urban regions. By using bio lab based materials, we expect to narrow the gap between idealized mathematical interpretations and observable events in nature.