Juan Manuel Castro - Exploring the potential of artificial membranes upon creative practice

This project is about the spontaneous transformation of fat into unusual organic spaces. Inspired by nature’s own micro-technologies, this project explores the biophysics of fat to create soft architectures with the potential to protect living matter. Over millions of years, evolution developed a membrane to shelter precious matter choosing a versatile class of molecules, the lipids (fats). All living cells are enclosed by this liquid boundary. This work focuses on subtle properties of this biological interface and the development of artificial membranes. The aim is to grow micro-organic structures using fats and technology based on lipid bilayers and self-assembly processes. Since 2012, I started this investigation as a postdoctoral researcher at Waseda University. I have been trying to define the critical parameters that control membrane growth and the mechanisms of its deformation. The objective of the residency at IMéRA is to develop this research further and present an approach for the emergence of soft architectures with predefined physical properties. It is hoped that this project will give a clear picture of the potential that transdisciplinary creation could develop to generate innovative designs and conceptual frameworks.