Julia Lohmann’s seaweed installation and the ALUSTA pavilion to be exhibited in The Design Museum London
From an enormous nature calendar to spaces designed for multispecies encounters, the More than Human exhibition at The Design Museum London aims to set a new direction for design based on humanity’s collaboration with the living world. The exhibition opens on 11 July 2025.
More than Human refers to a growing design movement that questions the human-centric lens that has defined Western design practice and embraces the idea that the flourishing of all species is interconnected. More-than-human design calls for focused attention on the needs of environments and the species they host. Designers, architects and artists are increasingly directing their work towards the needs of non-human species. The approaches emerging range from the sharing of ancient knowledge to the design of new habitats and, ultimately, the shifting of perspectives.
Highlights include Aalto ARTS Professor, designer Julia Lohmann’s large-scale seaweed installation specifically designed for the exhibition. It is a series of organic forms that will appear to grow from the floor of the gallery. Julia Lohmann explores the intersection of ethics, sustainability, and our connection to the natural world. Her ongoing fascination with the alienation between humans and nature, and ways in which we can overcome it, is a central theme in her work.
Also, the exhibition recreates a version of the award-winning Alusta Pavilion designed by architects and Aalto ARTS doctoral researchers Elina Koivisto and Maiju Suomi, first constructed in Helsinki in 2022. The pavilion’s main structure will be built using unfired, mass-produced insulation bricks to create a form that provides shelter for humans and insects alike. Designed as a space for multispecies encounters, the pavilion demonstrates how architecture can encourage biodiversity in urban environments.
The More thean Human exhibition will comprise over 140 works by more than 50 participants, with several presenting new work, as well as four major commissions. The exhibition is co-curated by the Museum's design research programme Future Observatory director Justin McGuirk and the Design Museum’s senior curator Rebecca Lewin.
The Design Museum in London is a world-leading platform where the design industry, education and the public come together to change the way people think about themselves and the future through the lens of design.
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