Terra Carta Design Lab Winners
RISD’s two Terra Carta Design Lab (TCDL) winners are BIOPOD, a human-scale ecosystem module designed to remediate water quality and restore vital urban marshes, and Shellf Life, a transformative biomaterial made from discarded mollusk shells, offering a sustainable alternative for diverse applications. See below to read about the groundbreaking projects and the expert teams behind them. (You can also learn more in the December 9, 2024 press release.)
BIOPOD
Collaborating with ecosystems to heal our Earth
BIOPODs are human-scale ecosystem modules that remediate water quality, reintroduce vital fringe marshes into urban environments and engage the public in citizen science.
Manini Banerjee is an Indian-Singaporean designer and researcher based in Boston. She bridges disciplines to address challenges at scales ranging from microorganisms to cities. In her work focuses on developing systems that enable sustainable futures and make technologies accessible.
Avantika Velho is an Indian biodesigner, researcher and strategic futurist based in Boston. Working at the nexus of living systems, hybrid technologies and critical design, she aims to redefine our ailing infrastructures and material worlds as vibrant socio-ecologies.
Malvika Agarwal is an Indian graphic designer whose work explores themes of understanding culture, communities and identity. Her goal is to experiment in order to use design as a tool to find intersections that lead to innovation.
Skylar Perez is a PhD Candidate at Texas Tech University. With a focus on arid landscapes, his work threads architecture, microbiology and agriculture to explore innovative approaches to design with and for soil networks.
Joel Yong is an industrial designer dedicated to expanding design in unconventional spaces. He has worked at Google, the White House and Princeton University, among other institutions. He is proudly from Los Angeles and currently oscillates between Washington DC and Providence.
Katia Zolotovsky is an architect, biologist and biodesign researcher who focuses on the impact of biotechnology on everyday life and the ecosystems we live in, as well as the implications of this emerging technology. Through frequent collaboration with diverse partners, she develops practical ways for artists and designers to engage with biological materials and systems.
“It is deeply inspiring to empower people with the ability to heal the world around them—offering simple yet meaningful ways to nurture nature. This is just the beginning of our story, and we are excited to see how many communities we are able to reach.”
— BIOPOD Principal Brand Designer Malvika Agarwal
Shellf Life
Building a sustainable future with coastal communities
Shellf Life transforms discarded seashells from restaurants into a regenerative material that flows between rigid and flexible states—creating everything from luminous lighting and elegant tableware to durable furniture, tiles and architectural surfaces in a circular system.
Felicia Neuhof creates regenerative architectural materials through Shellf Life, transforming discarded shellfish waste into new building solutions. Represented by BCMT Gallery and exhibited at New Climate Futures and Alcova Miami, her work establishes circular systems that clean our environment while creating opportunities in coastal communities.
An architect by training, Aleza Epstein views design as a reflection of our worldview and a tool for change. Passionate about circular design and interdisciplinary collaboration, she explores creative material reuse—that our choices shape the world and that thoughtful design can drive meaningful, collective change.
Jason Connell is a carpenter turned studio artist whose creative practice combines practical knowledge of building materials and processes with a love of craft, a deeply human need for novelty and play, and a futurist’s optimistic belief in the power of art and design to inspire a better future.
“Sometimes the most powerful innovations are the simplest ones. I looked at our empty oyster, mussel and... saw everything we needed—strength, beauty and a material that's been perfecting itself for millions of years. Now those shells that protected ocean life are protecting our homes, and our planet gets a little better and more beautiful with every seafood dinner.”
— Shellf Life Founder Felicia Neuhof
