Symbiotic Biomass Advanced Topics Studio Collaborator: Riley Hammond Instructor: Simon Kim 吀栀is project began with a reverse process: We ex- amined the physical qualities of substances not typically seen as construction materials, including sourdough bread, balloons, and ceramic follies. 吀栀en we used the tectonic logics of these materials to inform the design of a future public commons in an unusual site: the La Brea Tar Pits. 吀栀is exer- cise in world-building led us to develop a commons which obscures the distinction between humans and non-humans, and instead expresses itself as a node in a larger system of heat and nutrient ex- change, projecting a world where the tar pits are positioned not as a site of death, fossilization, and carbon emissions, but as a domain of compost, fer- mentation, and fecundity. 36 37