New York's MoMA is staging an exhibition showcasing Neri Oxman's research at MIT Media Lab with projects that "challenge the status quo of architectural design".

 

Oxman came up with the name, Material Ecology, as a framework for understanding her work – which combines engineering, art, science and technology to explore new materialities.

Oxman said the creations, which are displayed at the MoMA exhibit alongside artefacts that demonstrate the research processes behind them, have made significant strides in the field of architecture.

"We have successfully built a body of work that enabled us to challenge the status quo of architectural design, questioning first principles associated with materials, structures, ecology and our evolving relationship with the natural environment overall," she said.

 

Among the works on display is a 9.5-meter tall Silk Pavilion II. Custom-made for the show, the design is the second version of the Silk Pavilion Oxman created in 2013, and uses a new jig machine that rotates the structure every so often so silkworms keep moving across the pavilion to lay silk more evenly.

It is a hollow, stainless steel frame. On top of this, 17,000 silkworms have laid their silk to completely cover the structure inside and out.