Symplasma - Inspired by Glass Sea Sponges

  • Prize
    Honorable Mention in Architectural Design / Speculative and Visionary
  • Design Company
    Henriquez Partners Architects
  • Lead Designer
    Gregory Henriquez
  • Design Team
    Rui Nunes, Max Senini, Muye Ma, John Ngan, Chelsey Hickey
  • Architecture Firm
    Henriquez Partners Architects
  • Photo Credit
    Bartosz Palus / Henriquez Partners Architects
  • Project Location
    Venice, Italy

Symplasma merges the biological wisdom of the ancient and extinct Mediterranean glass sea sponges with Venice’s history to imagine a model of resilience - machines that draw from nature, harnessing energy from the sun, wind, & earth.
Set within Venice, which is now dependent on mainland resources, Symplasma envisions a self-sufficient ecosystem of sustainable machines. Inspired by the sponges’ adaptive forms and attributes, the machines are co-designed using AI and placed within Canaletto’s paintings, portraying Venice in its golden age of maritime dominance.
The machines’ sculptural forms echo the sponge’s ability to adapt, maximizing efficiency in capturing and converting natural resources through five typologies:
• EARTH – Geoexchange
• FIRE – Sunlight
• AIR – Wind
• WATER – Rainfall
• TIME – Gravity Storage
Together, the sustainable machines form a self-regulating ecosystem, aligning ancient wisdom of the sea sponge with speculative innovation to propose a sustainable future for Venice.




BLT Built Design Awards 2025
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