Natsai Audrey Chieza is a designer, researcher, and founder of Faber Futures, a multidisciplinary practice pioneering the intersection of design and biotechnology. Her work explores how living systems can be collaborators in shaping new material economies, moving beyond fossil fuel dependency and toward more regenerative, equitable futures.

In 2023, Faber Futures launched Natural Phenomena of Life (NPOL), an ongoing experiment in “designing for living economies.” More than a collection of products made using organisms, the initiative positions emerging biotechnologies as civic tools—accessible to a wider public and capable of reshaping our relationship with the living world.

Through NPOL, Chieza demonstrates how microorganisms can become partners in design, reframing supply chains as networks of both human and more-than-human actors. While humanity has long relied on microbial processes such as fermentation, she highlights how the potential of newer biotechnologies remains largely untapped by markets. Her presentation reveals how Faber Futures is working to change that through innovation, advocacy, and imagination.