We The Bacteria

How does architecture relate to the world of bacteria? The exhibition We The Bacteria advocates an approach to architecture that embraces microbes rather than fighting them.

Architecture has contributed both to the destruction and the preservation of bacteria. Many modern-day diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases, allergies, autism, Alzheimer’s and depression, are linked to a loss of microbial diversity.

We The Bacteria highlights the important role of architecture in this narrative. Curators Beatriz Colomina (Architectural Historian and Professor, Princeton University) and Mark Wigley (Professor of Architecture, Columbia University) explore the ‘diseases of the built environment’, which are inextricably linked to the health of the planet and the state of the biosphere. The exhibition advocates a different view of humanity: as a mobile ecosystem that embraces the world of bacteria. We The Bacteria holds a mirror up to us all.

Get to know your microbes and follow the journey they have taken, from deep within the Earth to outer space, and from 4.2 billion years ago to the present day. Discover recent research by scientists and architects into an alternative history of architecture, told from the perspective of bacteria.