ZEA – Biodiversity Translator

Politecnico di Milano

ZEA was developed within the Final Synthesis Laboratory at Politecnico di Milano, which focused that year on the exploration of raw materials. Our group was assigned the corn supply chain, through which we investigated the progressive loss of genetic biodiversity in the crop, caused by decades of intensive monoculture and the spread of GMO varieties, to the detriment of local varieties.Rather than proposing a technical solution, the project addresses this issue through an awareness-raising tool. ZEA makes the morphological and chromatic richness of corn varieties at risk of disappearing perceptible through sound, transforming an issue that is normally invisible to consumers into a direct and engaging experience. The aim is to promote greater awareness of the value of agricultural biodiversity and the need to preserve it.

Bioeconomy

Ecodesign

Low-impact Textiles

Artificial Intelligence

Digital Product Passport

Traceability

Circular Business Models

Life-Cycle Thinking

ZEA is a device that reads the chromatic and structural characteristics of corn cobs and translates them into ambient music tracks. It is not an industrial product, but a speculative design prototype whose circular function is primarily communicative. The device reads the cobs non-destructively, without consuming or altering them, with the aim of encouraging the preservation of local varieties. Its casing was produced through 3D printing using PLA, a plant-based material derived from corn starch and compostable under industrial conditions. The maker approach and iterative rapid prototyping process made it possible to correct design errors while reducing material waste during development.

Unlike traditional environmental communication solutions, ZEA offers a physical and sonic interaction based on the synaesthesia between morphological structure and acoustic complexity. The project was developed to the prototype stage and received several awards: the Compasso d’Oro Young 2026 Certificate, selection for the ADI Design Index 2025 in the Targa Giovani category, and first prize at the 2024 Interaction & Experience Design Contest organised by the University of San Marino. It was also exhibited at Raw Scenarios, Anthropogenic Narratives during Milan Design Week, and the Festival della Meraviglia, as part of the Stories Make Worlds exhibition.