IHBE Interim Director Fretz recently returned from Venice to help setup and launch the University of Oregon’s Transpecies Design Exhibition, curated by College of Design Dean Adrian Parr. The exhibition is part of the Time, Space, Existence show organized by the European Cultural Centre and will run from May 20, 2023 – November 26, 2023 at Palazzo Bembo, located just steps away from the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal. Fretz joined an entourage of incredible faculty, students, alumni and sponsors who also contributed work to the exhibition and facilitated the Transpecies Design Symposium (organized by Parr and SAE Director Zaretsky), which included inspiring keynote speakers and panelists working in architecture, art, product design, landscape architecture, engineering and philosophy to launch the event on May 19, 2023.
The IHBE contribution focused on the work of BioBE around the realms of Air, Material and Light + Microbes and included an ethereal model of microbes in Air and Space by Sofia Chavez / Fretz, a model and active experiment on wood species and human + environmental microbes by Isaac Martinotti, supported by Rowan Bullock, and a light microcosm model created by Dale Northcutt / Fretz. Text engraved on the wood columns was prepared by Dr. Gwynne Mhuireach / Fretz. Fretz also delivered a keynote address on “Microbial Tectonics” at the Transpecies Design Symposium.