Insect Architecture is a multispecies design project that reimagines urban space as a shared habitat that extends beyond human needs to include solitary bees and other overlooked pollinators. The project challenges the dominant paradigm of human-centered cities and questions the assumption that urban environments exist exclusively for human life.

At a time of climate and biodiversity crises, this shift in perspective becomes urgent. Urbanization has contributed to the fragmentation and loss of habitats, while pollinators that are essential to ecosystem resilience and food systems are in rapid decline. Expanding architectural thinking to include more-than-human needs opens up possibilities for more resilient, interdependent urban ecosystems.

The installations are situated within fragmented pockets of biodiversity across Riga. These sites act as living laboratories where we place and observe insect architecture prototypes, testing how solitary bees interact with and inhabit these structures.

Parametric design is developed in collaboration with architect Helmuts Nežborts. The project is developed in collaboration with “Latvijas Dabas fonds” and “Rīgas meži”, who support the placement of installations within urban meadows in Riga City. Material experimentation and fabrication are carried out together with the RTU 3D Concrete Printing Laboratory, where we explore alternative, lower-emission concrete mixtures. Design is informed by consultation with entomologist Uģis Piterāns.

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