The Multispecies Spaces Lab

The Multispecies Spaces Lab test new practices that transform our relationship with the planet. The 7-day intensive course, a 5-day course followed by a 2-day exhibition program, establishes a practice-oriented laboratory that mobilizes the interdisciplinary capacities of architecture and art.

Key data

ECTS points: 2 ECTS
Next start: 24 August 2026
Duration: 1 week
Final application date: 27 July 2026
Teaching language: English
Place: Basel
Fee: CHF 900.–

Application

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The Multispecies Spaces Lab (MSL) is a continuing education program developed with the Institute Art Gender Nature at the Basel Academy of Art and Design (HGK). It functions as a practical, research-driven laboratory at the intersection of art, architecture, and multispecies thinking.
The Lab tests new materials, technologies, and collaborative approaches to explore how sustainable environments for multiple forms of life can be conceived and built.
Focusing on the shifting relationships between humans, non-human beings, objects, and technologies, the program reconsiders notions of agency, intelligence, and spatial practice. Participants gain access to current research and expert guidance to conduct hands-on experiments that address material resources, forms of cohabitation, and interspecies environments.
MSL positions architecture and design as interspecies practices-collaborative, situated, and deeply entangled with ecological and cultural processes. It invites participants to imagine and materialize future-oriented spaces that support multispecies coexistence.

Lecturer

Chrissie Muhr is an architect, researcher and curator based in Basel. She is Co-Managing and Artistic Director of Experimental in Berlin, a non-profit organization fostering practice-based experimental and research work for sustainable architecture futures. Latest Muhr was curator and editor of the exhibition and publication Reset Materials – Towards Sustainable Architecture at Copenhagen Contemporary in 2023. She is founding Artistic Director of the Architekturwoche Basel 2022 and the first reuse Basel Pavillon. Muhr publishes, teaches and crits internationally at ETH Zurich or AA School a.o.

Chus Martínez is head of the Institute Art Gender Nature FHNW Academy of Arts and Design in Basel. Most recently she has been appointed Artistic Director of the 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from 6 June to 12 October 2025. She was the expedition leader of The Current, a project initiated by TBA21–Academy (2018–2020) and 2020-2022 she has been the artistic director of the Ocean Space, Venice, a space initiated by TBA21–Academy. The Current inspired the Art is Ocean at the IAGN which examines the role of artists in the conception of a new experience of nature.

Guests and Experts
Céline Baumann – Landscape Architect, Studio Céline Baumann, Basel
Justine Bell – Architect, Co-founder Djernes & Bell, Copenhagen
Lucia Pietroiusti – Head of Research & Emergence, Hartwig Foundation, Amsterdam
Filipa Ramos – Curator, Writer, Lecturer IAGN, London
Yuri Tuma – Artistic and Academic Co-Director, Institute for Postnatural Studies, Madrid

Programme

The five-day intensive offers close mentorship from practitioners and specialists from research and industry, supporting participants in developing and refining methods that lead to tangible prototypes. The program concludes with a public exhibition at TANK, presenting the material fragments produced during the Lab.

Seven-day intensive course
Monday to Friday. The MSL Intensive takes place 24–28 August 2026, followed by a concluding exhibition at TANK 29–30 August 2026.

Monday - Wednesday: Intensive workshop and field trips
Thursday: Reflective development & production
Friday -Sunday: Exhibition setup at TANK and project presentation during Kunsttage Basel

Entry-requirements

Openness to experimental, collaborative work
Artistic or technical experience is an advantage
Professional experience welcome but not required
No institutional affiliation necessary

Target groups

The Multispecies Spaces Lab is aimed at visionary practitioners and designers—from architecture, art, design, urban planning, engineering, ecology, the sciences, or interdisciplinary fields.

Goals and benefits

Expertise & Practice: Gain knowledge and skills in sustainable (building) practices, habitat preservation, biodiversity integration, biophilic design strategies, and ecological landscape design.
Hands-on experimentation and production, with a focus on scalable solutions for real-world implementation.
Network & Dialogue: Become part of a vibrant, cross-disciplinary network with leading figures from research, practice, and industry.
New Perspectives: Expand your design practice through radical approaches to multispecies spaces and future-oriented living environments.

Further information

This Intensive Course allows to bridge the current stage of research and practice by being an integrated part and engaging with the IAGN program, expertise and infrastructure as the building industry. The course will start with the Spring Symposium 2026 that will inform the practice-oriented seven-day Intensive Course to build material fragments for a spatial experience and presentation in a final exhibition.

Detailed information on the programme and line-up of recognized local and international experts will be updated continuously until January 2026 via communication and the platform.

Fees

Multiple Bookings:
2 ECTS CHF 900.-
4 ECTS CHF 1700.-
6 ECTS CHF 2400.-
8 ECTS CHF 3000.-
10 ECTS CHF 3500.-

20% discount with a valid student ID. This must be sent in with the registration (pdf).

Information and regulations

Terms of participation (PDF)
Information on continuing education FHNW (fhnw.ch/DE)
Continuing education regulations of the universities FHNW (fhnw.ch/DE)

Institute Art Gender Nature (IAGN)

Kunst ist spekulative Praxis, die Materialien und Vorstellungen verknüpft und Auffassungen von Information und Wissen, individueller Handlung und sozialer Interaktion befragt.

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