What if they could respond to environmental conditions in real time and inform design decisions? This question challenges a long-standing assumption in landscape design: that nature is a backdrop. For too long, vegetation has been treated as an aesthetic softener. But under the pressures of a changing climate, it is increasingly clear that plants are not just decorative, they are part of the solution.
The Breakthrough from Venice
At the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, , Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets presented a concept that may fundamentally alter how we think about urban greenery: chronobiotic landscapes. His work is the result of more than a decade of collaboration with Stefano Mancuso, a leading plant neurobiologist and founder of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology at the University of Florence. Their joint research explores how plants react to light, temperature, humidity, soil memory and more and how these biological processes can be integrated into architectural thinking. Mancuso’s work has demonstrated that plants are highly sensitive, capable of storing information and adapting to change through complex biochemical signals.
Smets translates this research into design practice. In his vision, trees are not static objects but dynamic systems. Using environmental sensors, his team measures root temperature, photosynthetic rates, and microclimate data. The result: a two-way exchange between built environments and living systems. Read here more about it.
From Data to Design: A New Toolkit
What were once abstract biological processes - soil dynamics, transpiration, circadian cycles - are now quantifiable data points. This creates a new design paradigm: one that enables us to co-create with nature, not simply control it.
Imagine a design process in which:
- The orientation of built elements is informed by real-time photosynthetic rhythms;
- Plant feedback determines where and how water is stored or released;
- Tree geometry and material porosity shape thermal comfort and airflow patterns.
This is not a vision of the distant future, it is already being tested and it compels us to reconsider the relationship between designer, environment, and system.
What It Means for Practice
This emerging approach also presents practical and technical challenges for the industry.
- Tool Integration
How can ecological feedback be integrated into CAD and BIM platforms, which still treat vegetation as static objects? What would it take to model a living tree as a responsive design element? - Design Workflows
Can plant intelligence become standard infrastructure in planning processes? Doing so would require new protocols for site analysis, conceptual development, and post-occupancy monitoring. - Professional Training
How do we train the next generation of designers to engage with living systems? This will require bridging gaps between architecture, landscape planning, data science, and environmental biology.
Designing with Responsibility
This development raises a second, fundamental question: What is our design attitude?
The traditional view asked: How can we integrate nature into planning? The new perspective asks: How can we plan with the intelligence of natural systems?
Because trees and vegetation store information about climate conditions, seasonal rhythms, and environmental stress. This biological memory can become the foundation for more resilient, adaptive spaces.
The BRUSEGROUP Perspective
Of course: the depth at which Smets and Mancuso operate is highly specialised. But the underlying attitude is transferable.
At BRUSEGROUP, we follow such developments closely—and support our clients in translating these impulses into actionable, scalable strategies. We work across all relevant fields of climate-adaptive landscape planning: from the strategic integration of green infrastructure into urban development processes to the formulation of concrete interventions in public space. Our strength lies in bridging scientific insight with design feasibility.
Because the demands on urban greenery are changing. It is no longer about “more”, but about “differently”. And about treating nature as an active partner in the design process.