{"id":475018,"date":"2026-05-08T16:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/475018\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:16:13","slug":"joris-laarman-proposes-a-softer-future-for-concrete-and-plywood-at-friedman-benda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/475018\/","title":{"rendered":"joris laarman proposes a softer future for concrete and plywood at friedman benda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radical Softness in the lab<\/p>\n

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At Friedman Benda<\/strong><\/a> in New York, where designboom met Joris Laarman<\/strong><\/a> ahead of the opening of Symbio, the Dutch designer described his work as a study in material intelligence and collaboration with living systems.<\/p>\n

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\u2018The Symbio Benches are experimental works exploring how concrete can become symbiotic,\u2018 Laarman tells designboom\u00a0as he points toward a future where design coexists with its environment instead of just occupying it \u2014 exemplifying the concept of Radical Softness<\/strong><\/a> which designboom is currently exploring.<\/p>\n

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For Laarman, that shift belongs to what he calls the \u2018Symbioscene,\u2019 a speculative era after the Anthropocene, \u2018where nature and technology merge into something actually sustainable.\u2018<\/p>\n

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Across the exhibition<\/strong><\/a>, this idea takes two distinct material forms: 3D-printed<\/strong><\/a> concrete Symbio benches designed to host moss and lichen are displayed alongside the Ply Loop series, where engineered wood is pushed into fluid, computational curves through a biodegradable resin. Symbio is on view at Friedman Benda\u2019s New York gallery until July 24th, 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Symbio benches on view at Friedman Benda. image by designboom<\/p>\n

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joris laarman rethinks Concrete as habitat<\/p>\n

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The Symbio benches by Joris Laarman carry the immediate presence of landscape objects. Their long, rounded forms sit low to the ground, with surfaces cut by dark green channels that look somewhere between natural markings and digital code. Those lines are more than surface pattern.<\/p>\n

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\u2018The pattern itself is very three-dimensional, which means it also helps drain water,\u2018 the Dutch designer<\/a> explains.<\/strong> \u2018Underneath the first layer, there are hollow channels integrated into the structure.\u2018<\/p>\n

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Those channels hold a bio-active substrate developed with Respyre, a Dutch startup working with Mosscrete. He describes the material:<\/strong> \u2018It\u2019s a porous type of concrete that retains water very effectively and was originally designed to support moss growth.\u2018<\/p>\n

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Over time, the benches are meant to gather life across their recessed markings, supporting mosses, lichens, insects, and bird activity. The object becomes a small ecological platform, shaped by both computation and weather.<\/p>\n

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Joris Laarman at Friedman Benda, image by designboom<\/p>\n

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A Turing pattern in concrete<\/p>\n

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The surface language of Symbio comes from reaction-diffusion systems, also known as Turing patterns. Laarman traces their symbolic weight back to Alan Turing\u2019s research in the 1950s, when early computational thinking began to describe patterns already visible across living organisms.<\/p>\n

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\u2018There is something symbolic in merging natural growth patterns with computer language,\u2018 he says.<\/strong> \u2018You find these patterns everywhere in nature. They feel organic, but also highly technological.\u2018<\/p>\n

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That symbolic overlap gives the work its charge. Joris Laarman uses the computer here as a way to approach natural behavior, while the concrete moves toward softness through porosity, water retention, and biological use. The benches suggest that advanced fabrication can operate as a host, giving built matter a role within larger living cycles.<\/p>\n

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Symbio benches on view at Friedman Benda. image by designboom<\/p>\n

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Toward carbon-storing construction<\/p>\n

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The environmental research behind the benches reaches beyond gallery scale. Laarman is testing additives that allow concrete to store carbon, a direction he sees as crucial for construction.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Once concrete becomes carbon negative, it permanently stores carbon instead of emitting enormous amounts of CO2,\u2018 he explains, noting that concrete currently accounts for around 8% of global carbon emissions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The studio is exploring mineralization processes within cement as well as materials such as biochar, which can increase the amount of stored carbon. Powder-bed printing expands that research because it can work with different aggregates, from lighter mineral mixtures to darker carbon-rich compositions. For Joris Laarman, the bench becomes a proof of concept for architecture, one that could eventually inform facades and and public spaces.<\/p>\n

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Ply Loop Shelf (Wall) on view at Friedman Benda. image by designboom<\/p>\n

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Architecture for more species<\/p>\n

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This architectural ambition appears in Laarman\u2019s idea for future facades shaped around multiple forms of life. \u2018We imagine buildings that create a biophilic experience, where nature actively becomes part of the architecture,\u2018 he continues.<\/strong> The concept includes openings for birds, wild bees, bats, and other species, with dimensions adjusted to their needs.<\/p>\n

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Here, Symbio moves into a broader conversation about hospitality in the built environment. The project asks what happens when a building component is designed for human touch and nonhuman habitation at the same time. \u2018The Symbioscene is really about working together with nature. With these symbiotic objects, we try to collaborate with nature in a very literal sense.\u2018<\/p>\n

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Ply Loop Chair 2.0 on view at Friedman Benda. image by designboom<\/p>\n

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Plywood with a second life<\/p>\n

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The exhibition\u2019s second body of work, Ply Loop, brings the same thinking indoors through wood. At Friedman Benda, the series includes a chair, console, freestanding bookcase, and wall shelf, each made from oak and walnut veneer with a thermoset bio-resin. Their forms appear almost impossible for plywood, with thin surfaces bending into loops, shells, and flowing structural spans.<\/p>\n

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Laarman is direct about the contradiction inside engineered wood:<\/strong> \u2018Many people assume wood is always natural, but engineered woods often contain huge amounts of glue, especially plywood and chipboard.\u2018<\/p>\n

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Conventional construction timber can be difficult to recycle and is often burned at the end of its life. By working with Plantics, Laarman uses a fully recyclable and biodegradable resin that gives plywood a different material future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Radical Softness in the lab \u00a0 At Friedman Benda in New York, where designboom met Joris Laarman ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[21126,365,362,363,364,34757,366,18,117,966,42607,19,17,208181,205979],"class_list":{"0":"post-475018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-3d-printing","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-carbon-neutrality","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-eire","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-exhibitions","18":"tag-friedman-benda","19":"tag-ie","20":"tag-ireland","21":"tag-joris-laarman-lab","22":"tag-radical-softness"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116539856522738291","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}