Wild Futures Lab, founded by Dr. Assia Crawford at Tulane University, is an interdisciplinary research and teaching laboratory advancing bio-design through the integration of living materials into architectural practice. Operating as a wet lab, it investigates systems such as mycelium, bacterial cellulose, and algae to address ecological challenges of the Anthropocene, combining material science, digital fabrication, and environmental ethics to rethink architecture as adaptive, resilient, and ecologically responsible.
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The lab focuses on developing living bio-composites and bio-based textiles as sustainable alternatives to petrochemical and animal-derived materials, emphasizing carbon sequestration, biodegradability, and reduced waste. Through experimental digital fabrication and robotic workflows, including custom bio-ink deposition, Wild Futures Lab explores scalable methods for creating responsive, data-driven material systems.
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Collaboration and education are central to the lab’s mission. By working across biology, engineering, material science, and the arts, and embedding research within hands-on pedagogy, Wild Futures Lab functions as both a research incubator and an immersive learning environment, equipping emerging designers to engage critically with multispecies cohabitation, environmental justice, and the future of the built environment.
About
_LAB
Founder
_ASSIA CRAWFORD
Dr Assia Crawford is an Assistant Professor at Tulane University and is an ARB-registered architect. She is the author of Designer’s Guide to Lab Practice (Routledge, 2023) and Bios in Search of Zoe (ACTAR, 2025). She holds a PhD in Architecture from Newcastle University, where her thesis, Living Building Practice: Design for a Post-Anthropocene Era examined methods for working with living organisms and the ethical dimensions of emerging material practices. Assia’s research centers on biological material alternatives and digital fabrication in response to ecological challenges. Positioned at the intersection of architecture, science, and critical theory, her work uses experimental and speculative design to explore resilient, adaptive responses to environmental uncertainty.
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Assia has served as the ACADIA 2023 Site Chair, a researcher and architect with the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE), and artist in-residence at the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research. She is also a former editor of the Biotechnology Design Journal and recipient of the ACSA TAD Best Article Award (2022) and CU Denver’s Department of Architecture Research Award (2024).
People
_Research Assistants
Current: Kenzie Davis
Past: Sarah Ruthanna Miller, Stephanie Clouse, Laurie Sheldon, William Leary, Matthew Johnson, Logan Ebert, Matthew Hayes