As a researcher at the MIT Media Lab and a creative resident at Ginkgo Bioworks, Andrea Shin Ling studied the science of decay: how environmental factors such as moisture and heat affect the decomposition of biomaterials. Her work focuses not on preventing this biomaterial decay but on controlling it, allowing objects to change color and shape over time in aesthetically pleasing ways. Her work, she says, “is an example of what architecture or design could be if we harnessed all the biological advantages of the decomposition process.”