Hylozoic Ground, the award-winning installation from Philip Beesley Architect, Inc., has been chosen to represent Canada at the Venice Biennale of Architecture this coming Fall. The installation is immersive and responsive, embedded with a network of Arduino microcontrollers, sensors and actuators. The acrylic lattice, covered with "interactive mechanical fronds, filters and whiskers," reacts to the movement of the occupants in the space, suggesting a more empathic relationship between architecture and people.

We did a little research on the title: Hylozoism is a philosophical idea that life is inseparable from matter, as coined by Ralph Cudworth in 1678. This is a fitting title, very representative of the qualities of the project. As Eric Haldenby, Director Waterloo Architecture Cambridge, puts it: "This wonderful piece refreshes, or, even, restores the fundamental relationship between the built and natural environments. The work holds out the promise that there will one day be an architecture this deep, vivid and alive."

The core project team includes architect Philip Beesley, Andrew Hunter, an independent artist, writer and curator, and Dr. Rob Gorbet, Associate Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, who sent us this tip in the first place.

To learn more about the sculpture or to join the team supporting the Venice exhibition, visit www.hylozoicground.com.