Austėja Platūkytė is a creative researcher working in between the disciplines of material design and science, technology and crafts. She is a doctoral candidate in design (PhD in Arts) and a lecturer in Biomaterials Design at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. Austėja is a pioneer of material design and the Zero Waste philosophy in Lithuania. She is the founder and materials curator of the Biomaterials Library – the first and only collection of sustainable materials in the Baltic States.
In her creative practice, she explores hybrid living materials, rethinking the relationship between humans and nature. By focusing on nature-oriented materiality, she aims to create an alternative dialogue between the grown and made. Drawing on the concept of symbiomimicry – where learning from nature encourages interspecies interaction rather than human-centered benefit – she creates symbiotic design objects that envision a way of living in harmony with all life on the planet.
