The Word for World Is Forest

Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s science fiction, The Word for World Is Forest envisions a sustainable community in Shukuvena Yawanawá Village, Brazil, where built form and rainforest ecology exist in deep symbiosis. Rather than viewing the rainforest as a resource to extract, the concept honors it as a sovereign, living ecosystem. Architecture is not imposed upon the land but grown from it, becoming an integrated, self-sustaining environment co-owned by both people and forest.

The Shukuvena Research and Education Center serves as a hub where researchers, visitors, and local community members come together to exchange knowledge and share sustainable practices. The center also provides flexible spaces for communal gatherings and educational exhibitions. Its architecture follows the natural contours of the terrain and uses locally sourced, natural materials to minimize ecological disruption. On-site systems form a regenerative, closed-loop network that supports fertilizer production, carbon capture, and local bio-oil harvesting. Algae are cultivated in photobioreactors using nutrients from water and carbon dioxide filtered from the air. LED lighting supports growth, and the algae are processed into bio-oil to power a nearby aquaponics system, where fish waste fertilizes water for growing plants. These systems operate both outdoors in real time and indoors for exhibition and educational purposes.

Most program spaces are housed in separate structures elevated on platforms and connected by bridges, accommodating seasonal rain when forest grounds become inaccessible. These bridges grow in tandem with the aerial roots of native rubber fig trees connected to them. As the trees mature, the structures gain strength and resilience. The living tree bridge system is inspired by path and tree signs used by local people to navigate through the forest. Planning begins a decade in advance, over a 30-year timespan, to allow the trees’ root systems to interweave and form strong structures. In contrast to extensive deforestation for infrastructure and urban development, these living and sustainable infrastructures carry ecological, cultural, and spiritual significance - redefining the forest as a vital, living component of architecture, technology, and communal life.