Covering Earth is my contribution to the Türkiye Pavilion exhibition featured as part of the 19th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennial.

The project explores the idea of grafting microbial communities to restore land transformed by mining, industrial farming, erosion, and climate change. The project examines seven sites across Turkey, where we grow bacterial and fungal cultures and embed them into bioremediation blankets.

These blankets, constructed from woven jute and organic felt, contain cavities that bring specific microbial communities together, enabling them to work in concert while controlling their timing and release into the soil. This grafting process allows the microorganisms to establish themselves in their new environment as the blankets naturally decompose. The organisms then migrate into the soil in a coordinated sequence, where they transform heavy metals, replenish minerals, and address various soil deficiencies.

The exhibition features seven "earth covers" specially designed for different regions and their soil profiles. The tectonic design—layering and patterning—of each cover is customized for each region. The project centers on the idea of returning what is taken from land through various measures of care. Rather than promising complete restoration through biotechnology alone, the installation reveals the often invisible damage to soil and emphasizes our responsibility to give back after decades of extraction. Unlike fertilizers meant to maximize productivity, these blankets designate spaces that need healing and the time to recover from human intervention.

Special thanks to Dr. Ilkay Civelek for providing scientific guidance on the project.