The Slovenian design biennale BIO, one of the world’s oldest, ranks among the most preeminent international design events in Europe. First held in 1963, it has been hosted by Ljubljana’s Museum of Architecture and Design since 1972. The Biennial of Design is a cultural event that seeks innovative intersections that are ripe for development between architecture and the industrial and academic sectors.

BIO’s chosen theme serves as an international platform for new approaches to design that address current burning issues in local and global environments. It is a laboratory and test track where design is viewed as a tool for examining and readdressing everyday life through a multidisciplinary and humanistic lens that reaches through the systems, services, studies, and production apparatus that run our lives, as well as the unexpected conditions involved in effecting any solutions within our living environments. Guests in previous years include renowned names such as Jan Boelen, Angela Rui, Thomas Geisler, Alice Rawsthorn, Formafantasma, Mischer’Traxler, Studio Folder, Point Supreme, Didier Faustino, Odo Fioravanti, and plenty of other international and local creators. 

Transforming into a sustainable cultural producer

As the environmental impact of hosting international cultural events becomes clear, BIO’s mission embeds sustainability as a guiding principle. BIO28 is taking active steps to reduce its environmental footprint across its activities and aims to demonstrate and communicate innovative approaches to sustainable cultural production. BIO is organized by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) in cooperation with the Centre for Creativity, at the Museum of Architecture and Design. The project ‘Centre for Creativity’ is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and European Union from the European Regional Development Fund within the European Cohesion Policy.

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ALEXANDRA MIDAL

Dr Midalis a professor in design at the MA Space & Com at HEAD – Geneva HES-SO, and Head of the department of Critical Thinking at Ensci-Les Ateliers, as well as an art and design historian who combines a practice and theory-based research as an artist-curator and film essayist. She is the author of many books including Design by Accident – For a New History of Design, Sternberg Press (2019) and catalogues such as Top Secret, cinéma & espionage, Flammarion (2022); Girls, The Troopers of Dance. Aesthetization of Politics and Manipulation of Entertainment, Faire, (2021); Politique-Fiction, Cité du design (2012); Tomorrow Now, When Design Meets Science Fiction, MUDAM (2007); etc. She has curated a number of international exhibitions about visual culture, design and politic: Top Secret, Cinémathèque Française, Paris and La Caixa, Madrid, Barcelone, Saragosse, Valencia, (2021-2024); Popcorn - Art, Design et Cinéma, MAMC, Saint-Etienne (2017); Eames & Hollywood, ADAM, Bruxelles (2016); Politique-Fiction, Cité du design, Saint-Etienne (2012) , Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, Wolfsonian FIU, Miami (2012). Her films: Mind’s Eyes; Shake, Shake, Shakers; Heaven is a State of Mind; Mind Player; Possessed; Home Sweet Ho(l)me(s); Domestic Psycho; Hocus Pocus: Twilight in My Mind; Politique-Fiction; Eames, An Atlas; Villa Frankenstein,… are screened in museums worldwide.

ALEXANDRA MIDAL

Dr Midalis a professor in design at the MA Space & Com at HEAD – Geneva HES-SO, and Head of the department of Critical Thinking at Ensci-Les Ateliers, as well as an art and design historian who combines a practice and theory-based research as an artist-curator and film essayist. She is the author of many books including Design by Accident – For a New History of Design, Sternberg Press (2019) and catalogues such as Top Secret, cinéma & espionage, Flammarion (2022); Girls, The Troopers of Dance. Aesthetization of Politics and Manipulation of Entertainment, Faire, (2021); Politique-Fiction, Cité du design (2012); Tomorrow Now, When Design Meets Science Fiction, MUDAM (2007); etc. She has curated a number of international exhibitions about visual culture, design and politic: Top Secret, Cinémathèque Française, Paris and La Caixa, Madrid, Barcelone, Saragosse, Valencia, (2021-2024); Popcorn - Art, Design et Cinéma, MAMC, Saint-Etienne (2017); Eames & Hollywood, ADAM, Bruxelles (2016); Politique-Fiction, Cité du design, Saint-Etienne (2012) , Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, Wolfsonian FIU, Miami (2012). Her films: Mind’s Eyes; Shake, Shake, Shakers; Heaven is a State of Mind; Mind Player; Possessed; Home Sweet Ho(l)me(s); Domestic Psycho; Hocus Pocus: Twilight in My Mind; Politique-Fiction; Eames, An Atlas; Villa Frankenstein,… are screened in museums worldwide.

MATALI CRASSET

Matali Crasset is an industrial designer whose work can be seen as a refusal of pure shape, in which she develops new typologies articulated by appropriation, flexibility and modularity. Her practice spans eclectic universes—from handicraft to electronic music, from scenography to furniture, from graphics to interior architecture. She has worked for a number if international brands, including: Alessi, Campeggi, Danese, Hi-matic hotels, Le buisson, and Nodus.

Dach & Zephir

Dach&Zephir is a Franco-Caribbean design studio founded in 2016 by Florian Dach and Dimitri Zephir, both graduates of the École des Arts Décoratifs de Paris. By focusing on the anteriority and historicity of Creole culture, the duo seeks to bring out all its richness.

Studio Yukiko

Studio Yukiko is a Berlin-based creative agency specialising in creative direction, art direction, brand strategy, concept generation and graphic design for commercial and cultural clients alike. The studio produces award-winning work, unearthing narratives, telling stories of local communities worldwide, and immerses themselves in the trends of internet and youth culture. With its research arm, Yukiko continually experiments with contemporary forms of visual storytelling and fosters a deeper understanding of the audiences with which its projects engage.

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