SERRANUCITY



A REEF PROTOTYPE

FOR STARESO

CREDITS: SERRANUCITY Prototype. Photo: Till Timmermann. Location: STARESO. Date: August 2025.

The second test results of this study are used by the project «SymbiOcean» of the designer Rasa Weber as a basis for the development of a design work in the sea. In collaboration with local a local ceramist (Antoine Campana) and weaving studio Atelier Marie Drouet and technical collaboration with marine biology (STARESO), the installation «SERRANUCITY» was created based on natural fibres (hemp rope) and ceramics. The aim is to achieve artistic and scientific collaboration on alternative restoration techniques in the Mediterranean to create new habitats for the endangered key species and their communities. In this process, Posidonia is not actively transplanted, but settles naturally together with fish (Serranus scriba et al.), sea snails and mussels, as well as other pioneer species («wild settlement»). The installation functions as an «open invitation»1 for a wide variety of creatures, including humans.

Furthermore, the project methodically develops new starting points for interdisciplinary collaboration between research and «undisciplined»2 and local knowledge cultures. Coastal dwellers and their cultural techniques are the starting point for the development of a habitat-centered cultural technique in the sense of «reinhabiting»3 the coastal region in northern Corsica. The bioregion4 is thus involves diverse forms of knowledge and a wide range of living beings in the search for new cultural techniques for the preservation of the seas. 




1              A. Ståhl & K. Lindström (2020). »Politics of Inviting: Co-Articulations of Issues in Designerly Public«. In: R.C. Smith, T. K. Vangkilde et al. (2016.) Design Anthropological Futures, Routledge: 183–198.

2              Frédéric Darbellay (2015). »Rethinking inter- and transdisciplinarity: Undisciplined knowledge and the emergence of a new thought style«. In: Futures 65: 163-174.

3              Iain J. Davidson-Hunt, Katherine L. Turner et al. (2012). »Biocultural Design: A New Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Development in Rural Indigenous and Local Communities«. In: Sapiens 5 (2).

4              BC architects & studies (2024). »A Manual for Bioregional Design«. In: The Future Observatory Journal, Bioregioning 1.  



Credits


Design & Research: Rasa Weber


Co-Design and Production: Atelier Marie Drouet & Antoine Campana

Camera: Rasa Weber

                  Mélodie Chapat

                   Aubin Woehrel

                   Freke van Rooij

Scientific Monitoring: Mélodie Chapat

                                             Aubin Woehrel


Date: August 2025 - ongoing.

Location: STARESO - Station de Recherches Sous- marines et Océanographiques de Calvi Corsica (FR)


Production technique: traditional fish-trap weaves of reed, pottery making

Material: hemp rope

                ceramics


Scientific Advice: Michel Marengo (STARESO)


Divers:  Mélodie Chapat (STARESO)

                Freke van Rooij (DAE)

                Emma Mende (UdK)

                Till Timmermann

                Rasa Weber (Interfacing the Ocean)

                Aubin Woehrel (STARESO)



 

Research Project: PhD thesis «SymbiOcean»


SNF Project: «Interfacing the Ocean» (ZHdK)


Collaborators: Jordan Lab - Max Planck Institute  of Animal Behavior

                                 Zurich University of the Arts

                                 Linz University of Art and Design

                                 «Matters of Activity», Cluster of

                                 Excellence. Humboldt University

                                 of Berlin


Internship:  Freke van Rooij

                       (Design Academy Eindhoven)

                       

Photographers: Mélodie Chapat

                                 Emma Mende

                             Freke van Rooij
                                 Till Timmermann         
                                 Rasa Weber
                                 Aubin Woehrel


Grant Support:  Swiss National Science Fund     

                                 (Interfacing the Ocean)

                                 Transdisciplinary Artistic Program

                                 (ZHdK)

                                 Traveling Grant University of Art

                                 and Design Linz (AT)

                                 «Matters of Activity». Cluster of                                                                                            Excellence. Humboldt University

                                 of Berlin.
     

All rights reserved. rasaweber.com © 2025.




SYMBIOCEAN

DESIGN & RESEARCH    Rasa Weber


HOSTING UNIVERSITY   Zurich University of the   Arts &

                                            University of Art and   Design Linz


SUPERVISORS                 Karmen Franinović (Interaction Design) &     

                                            Karin Harrasser (Cultural Studies)


RESEARCH ASSOC.     Matters of Activity.   Cluster of Excellence I Humboldt University of Berlin 

 

COLLABORATORS          Jordan Lab I   Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour

                                          STARESO: Station de Recherche   Océanographiques et sous-marines I   Calvi (FR)

                                            TBA 21:   Thyssen-Bornemisza   Contemporary

                                           BLUE: Multispecies Ethnographies for Oceans in Crisis (Aarhus University)       


RESEARCH PROJECT     INTERFACING THE OCEAN  -  Swiss National Science Fund

                                           Zurich University of the Arts I   Interaction   Design

                                          interactiondesign.zhdk.ch/projekte/interfacing-the-ocean/


RESEARCH PERIOD      Since 2022 ongoing.


For lectures & collaborations please contact info@rasaweber.com.