Led by the Slovenian research institute InnoRenew CoE and involving six partners across four EU countries, including Graz University of Technology and the University of Ljubljana, the four-year project – ‘Archibiome Tattoo for Resistant, Responsive, and Resilient Cities’ (REMEDY) – seeks to integrate microbial life into façade coatings. The aim is to create living tattoos for buildings that can absorb CO₂, filter pollutants, and protect surfaces from weathering.
Funded by nearly €3 million from the European Innovation Council under its Pathfinder programme, REMEDY aims to turn inert walls into functional biosurfaces through a fusion of microbiology, synthetic biology, materials science, and architectural design.
A microbial future for urban architecture
“External walls of buildings are normally lifeless and have no additional function,” the consortium noted. REMEDY challenges this notion by embedding composed communities of beneficial microorganisms into a printable living ink that can be applied to concrete, wood, metal, and other façade materials.
“This is a huge potential that we should utilise. Microbiological communities on roofs and façades could fulfil numerous functions without taking up scarce, undeveloped space,” said Carole Planchette, from the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer at Graz University of Technology.
With an estimated 9.4 billion square metres of building façades and roofs in the European Union set for renovation or new construction over the next 25 years, the scope for applying this microbial solution is extensive.
Engineering life into ink
At the University of Ljubljana, microbiologist Nina Gunde-Cimerman and her team are developing microbial consortia – stable communities formed from multiple microbial kingdoms – to act as building-friendly bioagents.
“The aim is to create a beneficial microbiome for buildings that is resistant to pathogenic microbes and repairs superficial cracks on its own,” explained Planchette. “Additional benefits will range from carbon sequestration and oxygen production to bioremediation, among others.”
To bring these living systems into the built environment, Planchette is also working on the development of a specialised ink formulation. “We opted for inkjet printing because it allows us to apply the living ink very precisely, in a controlled manner and quickly at the same time,” she said.
However, the task presents notable challenges. The microorganisms involved are micrometre-scale in size – orders of magnitude larger than typical inkjet particles, which are usually in the nanometre range. Overcoming this has required close collaboration with Slovak inkjet manufacturer Qres Technologies and Austrian coating specialist Tiger Coatings to adapt the technology for biological compatibility.
Printing with living materials
“The ambition of REMEDY is to achieve a breakthrough in fundamental research in microbiology and synthetic biology, transfer the know-how to materials science in the form of engineered living materials, and develop compatible biofabrication processes that allow personalised design in the architectural context,” said Anna Sandak, Project Coordinator and researcher at InnoRenew CoE.
Planchette added: “I am confident that we will develop suitable inks and the customised inkjet technology within the project duration. I also expect that we will find suitable microorganisms that survive in the ink and under the stress generated by printing. It will be interesting to see whether we succeed in making this process already fully reproducible over the next four years. Using living – thus evolving – inks for industrial processes such as inkjet printing, which tolerate little parameter variations, is a challenge, as we are entering uncharted territory with the REMEDY project.”
If successful, REMEDY could help cities evolve into ecosystems, where buildings do more than shelter – they contribute actively to climate resilience, air quality, and environmental repair.
