What changes when architecture is understood not as separate from nature, but as part of a living system?

In this second conversation in our series bringing together researchers and practitioners, Marwa Dabaieh, professor at Malmö University, met Petra Jenning, architect and Development Manager at FOJAB. Drawing on research and practice, they explored how biological thinking could reshape the ways in which we design, construct and inhabit buildings.

The conversation moved between natural and bio-based materials, computational design and emerging architectural approaches inspired by living systems. What could architects learn from the ways in which nature grows, adapts and uses resources? How might buildings support biodiversity and respond more intelligently to their surroundings? And what was needed to move these ideas from research and experimentation into everyday architectural practice?

Rather than treating biology as something to be added to a finished building, this conversation asked what happened when it became part of architecture’s underlying logic – from the materials we build with to the processes through which buildings take shape.

The event unfolded as a 45-minute dialogue between the speakers, followed by a 15-minute audience Q&A.

Speakers

Marwa Dabaieh is a professor of urban sustainability at Malmö University, as well as an architect and BioGeometry® practitioner. Her research focuses on sustainable and environmentally conscious architecture, particularly passive and carbon-neutral design, earthen construction, natural materials and the contemporary application of vernacular knowledge.

Petra Jenning is an architect and development manager at FOJAB. She has worked at the intersection of architecture, innovation and digital development for more than a decade and is internationally recognised for her expertise in computational design. Her work explores how new tools, knowledge and design processes can translate complex challenges into practical architectural solutions.

Context

This event was part of an ongoing initiative to strengthen the connection between Malmö’s academic research and its professional landscape–making knowledge more visible, relevant, and shared. The work is funded by Region Skåne.