Studio Silva Systems

"This was the order of human institutions:
first the forests, after that the huts, then the villages, next the cities, and finally the academies.”

Giambattista Vico, New Science, p.78

Silva Systems takes you on a journey through forests. Through an experimental practice of learning, we observe ecological systems, interact with complex organisms, and design with environmental accountability. We understand forests as design superorganisms—living networks to be explored through individual and collective research, and hands-on experimentation. Forests are our mentors and partners; by visiting them, we learn from their systems and the benefits they offer. We collaborate with guest experts from forestry, biology, activism, art, design, and architecture. The studio operates through three core methodologies:

• Roots of Chaos – Connect your design practice to real environments and develop critical thinking through direct observation.
• Saurian – Embrace open-ended experimentation, work with seasonal rhythms, and develop new techniques of making.
• Butterfly Effect – Understand interconnectivity, learn through collaboration, and cultivate shared knowledge.

We value action-based learning—experimenting with materials, media, and methods of presentation. You are encouraged to shape your own path, develop your design voice, and engage in interdisciplinary dialogue. Collaborations with external partners and experts offer new perspectives. This studio invites you to take direct action, engage with communities, and create work that responds to global challenges through local impact. Our focus isn’t on polished outcomes, but on process, critical reflection, and experimentation. By the end of the semester, you will have developed a unique approach to material use, sustainability, and ecological design thinking.

Forests are wonderful and scary: light, air, smells, textures, self-organization, the invisible, density, darkness, imagination

Forests are time and climate: growth, movement, decay, cycles, symbiosis, photosynthesis, seeds, biodiversity, interdependent, extinction, carbon sequestration, politics, future, hope

Forests are the world: activism, nature-culture divide, regeneration, sourcing, recycling, repairing, reusing, collaboration, economy, care

Collaborative Projects

2022: Collaboration with Staatsbosbeheer, which manages the Netherlands' green heritage. You can read more about the collaboration here. 2023: Collaboration with Wooncollectief Gijzenrooi. 2023: Collaborative student project ‘Connecting through Nature’ with Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Department of Architecture & Department of Marine Transportation Engineering and Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Department of Architecture & Department of Urban Design, Indonesia, as part of a Virtual International Collaboration, a grant funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education. The students from the educational institutions examined and shared knowledge about seeds and plants from indigenous ecosystems in Indonesia and the Netherlands. 2024: Collaboration with Wooncollectief Gijzenrooi and Nieuw Zwaneburg.