‘Places are poetic. They grow and change, influenced and inspired by the bodies inhabiting them.
Because of this, our work is interactive. It is made to approach, touch, shaped by the nature and the forces engaging with it.
Actions change our sculptures, trigging light, sounds, echos. Rain, wind, sunlight, and each unpredictable interaction creates a new landscape of performative responses.
In this way, we make the works, but they are completed by the community and the nature they come into contact with.
This creates a symbiosis between art and its environment.’
Because of this, our work is interactive. It is made to approach, touch, shaped by the nature and the forces engaging with it.
Actions change our sculptures, trigging light, sounds, echos. Rain, wind, sunlight, and each unpredictable interaction creates a new landscape of performative responses.
In this way, we make the works, but they are completed by the community and the nature they come into contact with.
This creates a symbiosis between art and its environment.’
STUDIO︎
Maetherea {Matter + Ethereal} is a multidisciplinary practice based in London, operating internationally at the intersection of Public Art and Landscape Architecture. Our studio combines time-based design with natural and artificial phenomena to create spaces that evolve over time. Our projects are guided by ecological principles, considering the relationships among all living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment.
We draw inspiration from a multidisciplinary perspective, merging rituals with perception and interactive installations triggered by nature. These rituals are developed through community engagement processes, manifesting as event and performances that foster deeper connections to the space. In this way, we create performative environments where the landscape acts as a theatre and nature plays the role of the actor. By proposing the fourth dimension of time as a crucial element in the public realm, we design time-based iconic structures and art installations that foster interaction between humans and nature, continuously adapting to new scenarios.
Our installations serve as ecological and phenological devices, becoming tools for exploring and engaging with the environment. We believe that urban spaces and public art should not be viewed as a series of isolated objects, but rather as a choreography of performances that intertwine sculptural perception with experiential design. In this way, we focus on the narrative: uncovering the story behind a place and discovering new and creative ways to celebrate it.
We draw inspiration from a multidisciplinary perspective, merging rituals with perception and interactive installations triggered by nature. These rituals are developed through community engagement processes, manifesting as event and performances that foster deeper connections to the space. In this way, we create performative environments where the landscape acts as a theatre and nature plays the role of the actor. By proposing the fourth dimension of time as a crucial element in the public realm, we design time-based iconic structures and art installations that foster interaction between humans and nature, continuously adapting to new scenarios.
Our installations serve as ecological and phenological devices, becoming tools for exploring and engaging with the environment. We believe that urban spaces and public art should not be viewed as a series of isolated objects, but rather as a choreography of performances that intertwine sculptural perception with experiential design. In this way, we focus on the narrative: uncovering the story behind a place and discovering new and creative ways to celebrate it.
PEOPLE︎
Cristina Morbi - Director
Morbi is a London based Architectural and Landscape Designer working for the Public Realm and Art Commission, focusing on Site-Specific Landscape Architecture, Environmental Design and Public Art. She affiliates with Universities in Milan and London, as Visiting Professor MSc Politecnico di Milano School of Design, Bartlett UCL School of Architecture, and London Metropolitan School of Art Architecture and Design.
Exploring performative processes in Landscape Architecture, she founded in 2018 Maetherea, a Studio Manifesto bringing together design, art and research, using unpredictable data and analysis as a poetic tool for the design process.
Her research and work bring together phenomenologic landscape through time-based design, working on the relationship between natural and artificial agents and questioning the life-span of design gestures, how they shape the landscape, sculptural features and installations. The concept of Landscape Design is here extended to Landscape Performances as deliberate mutations take place in the whole life span of a project.
Morbi is a London based Architectural and Landscape Designer working for the Public Realm and Art Commission, focusing on Site-Specific Landscape Architecture, Environmental Design and Public Art. She affiliates with Universities in Milan and London, as Visiting Professor MSc Politecnico di Milano School of Design, Bartlett UCL School of Architecture, and London Metropolitan School of Art Architecture and Design.
Exploring performative processes in Landscape Architecture, she founded in 2018 Maetherea, a Studio Manifesto bringing together design, art and research, using unpredictable data and analysis as a poetic tool for the design process.
Her research and work bring together phenomenologic landscape through time-based design, working on the relationship between natural and artificial agents and questioning the life-span of design gestures, how they shape the landscape, sculptural features and installations. The concept of Landscape Design is here extended to Landscape Performances as deliberate mutations take place in the whole life span of a project.
Aurora Destro - Associate
Destro is an Architect registered in Italy and Visual Artist based in Milan. She has been Adjunct Professor at Politecnico di Milano, working on the themes of ephemerality, rituals and time-based design. Her research investigates the ephemeral aspect of space design, exploring the themes of light, nature, time and digital space. Destro is Associate at the studio, overseeing both the design and management of the projects. She has expertise in construction and site management, with refined attention to conceptual frameworks.
Kristina Chan - Artist
Chan is a London based Artist and Print Maker. her works are a culmination and accumulation into site specific history to depict socio-cultural entropic narratives. They explore the correlation between architecture and sculptural landscapes of derelict and disused spaces. She is interested in sites where the intersection between function and intention have fallen into decline and disrepair, where untold histories recount themselves, in all their brevity, satire, beauty, and collapse.
Chan is a London based Artist and Print Maker. her works are a culmination and accumulation into site specific history to depict socio-cultural entropic narratives. They explore the correlation between architecture and sculptural landscapes of derelict and disused spaces. She is interested in sites where the intersection between function and intention have fallen into decline and disrepair, where untold histories recount themselves, in all their brevity, satire, beauty, and collapse.
Jean-Baptiste Roux - Head of Data and BD
Roux is a London based head of Database and Business development, working on strategies and benchmarking, unifying Art and Tech. He is the creator of the Database of Performances, developing the know-how and vision of Maetherea. Jean-Baptiste is trained in the Business School of UIBE, in France and China. He is passionate about the creative worlds and works on tech-art platforms, Artlogic and Aucart
Roux is a London based head of Database and Business development, working on strategies and benchmarking, unifying Art and Tech. He is the creator of the Database of Performances, developing the know-how and vision of Maetherea. Jean-Baptiste is trained in the Business School of UIBE, in France and China. He is passionate about the creative worlds and works on tech-art platforms, Artlogic and Aucart
Previously:
Davide Maruelli, Giorgia Mazzetti, Cristina Brena, Lola Artilles San-Juan, Beliz Gurmen, Alessandro Grossi, Gabriela Menghiris, Robert Stefanescu
Davide Maruelli, Giorgia Mazzetti, Cristina Brena, Lola Artilles San-Juan, Beliz Gurmen, Alessandro Grossi, Gabriela Menghiris, Robert Stefanescu