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Maarten Smith by Jimena Gauna for Waag Futurelab, 2023

Maarten SmithConcept Developer

Maarten Smith is a concept developer for Academy and instructor for the BioHack Academy at Waag. This programme, which makes use of Waag’s Open Wetlab, is dedicated to the nurture of bioart and biodesign practices. Maarten has a particular interest in what such practices might teach us about, for example, imagination, representation or logic.

Besides his work at Waag, Maarten is pursuing a PhD on how design and philosophical practices might correspond and transform each other to address societal challenges. He is doing this at the Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, where he also obtained his masters degree.

Labs

Current projects

Een foto van een veld van gele bloemen, een vrouw met een blauwe jurk staat achterin het veld gebogen naar de bloemen toe.
TextileLab

Van Tegel tot (verf)Tuin

Can paved courtyards in Amsterdam be transformed into blooming paint gardens, planted and maintained by residents? This project mitigates heat stress and fosters value exchange in the city.
BioHack Academy
Open Wetlab

BioHack Academy

Apply for BioHack Academy 2025, and extract your own biomaterials using only Open-Source hardware you fabricate yourself.
local color
TextileLab

Local Color

Local Color is a three-year project researching the conditions for a regenerative city that facilitates the growth of local biochromes to be used for closed-loop, local production on a small city scale.
Biohacking - CRISPR-cas workshop Waag
Open Wetlab

Hybrid Lab Network

Hybrid Lab Network is a European consortium that improves and innovates STEAM education, particularly in the field of biosciences.