about
The Ark is a living laboratory. People, weather, land, and living matter work in one cycle of building, observing, and change.
What we learn stays in The Ark Manual, so other domes can grow in other places from a shared practice — not from a copy of this building.
What we learn stays in The Ark Manual, so other domes can grow in other places from a shared practice — not from a copy of this building.
- PlaceAn evolving dome in Dilijan, Armenia — the first node of a global network.
Local materials, climate, and shared practice guide its form. The structure stays on site and changes with weather, time, and future editions. - PracticeWe work through attention — reading place, weather, materials, and each other.
Art and research form one cycle of observation, care, change, and transmission. - NetworkMethods, observations, and small inventions enter The Ark Manual. Each new Ark adds its own findings. The network grows through lived practice, not a standard model.
- 10 daysLaboratory in Dilijan: orientation, building, observation, shared work. 20–30 August 2027.
- Participants (30-40)Scientists, designers, and architects — architecture, environmental science, design, art, technology, movement, writing, local crafts.
- Festival31 August – 2 September 2027. Visits, conversations, and work in and around the dome — the lab made visible.
- ManualSpring 2028. Methods, tools, and questions leave the site. The dome stays and changes; the method travels.
cycle
The Ark grows through cycles of building, observing, and transformation. Living materials, rain, wind, and people shape the research as one ecosystem.
- Laboratory20–30 August 2027.
Ten days on site: orientation, building, observation, shared work. People and environment act together, learning through making, research, and care. - Festival31 August – 2 September 2027.
The process opens to the public: visits, conversations, and work in and around the dome — not a separate show, but the lab made visible. - ManualSpring 2028.
Methods, tools, and questions leave the site so the next Ark can begin. The dome stays and changes; the method travels.
2027
The first Ark
Dilijan, August 2027
The first Ark opens in Dilijan in August 2027: ten days of laboratory, then a public festival. In spring 2028 the methods leave the site as The Ark Manual.
We are looking for 30-40 architects, artists, scientists, and designers working across architecture, environmental science, design, art, technology, movement, writing, and local crafts. Open call: March–June 2027.
We are looking for 30-40 architects, artists, scientists, and designers working across architecture, environmental science, design, art, technology, movement, writing, and local crafts. Open call: March–June 2027.
Laboratory
20–30 August 2027
Festival
31 August – 2 September 2027
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Location: Dilijan, Armenia
Format: Art & Science Laboratory
Open call: March–June 2027
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Manual: Spring 2028
20–30 August 2027
Festival
31 August – 2 September 2027
————
Location: Dilijan, Armenia
Format: Art & Science Laboratory
Open call: March–June 2027
————
Manual: Spring 2028
how
Work starts from attention to place, weather, and the people in the room. Materials and living matter are partners in the process, not a backdrop.
- Co-creationPractice develops through shared actions. Relations between humans, elements, structures, and living matter.
- AttentionConditions guide action. Weather, light, and living matter set the rhythm of the work. We read context instead of imposing direction.
- ReciprocityPractice creates value for people and place. Through shared presence, learning, and exchange.
- MaterialsWe build with what is local and steady enough to last. Decisions follow grounded methods that support the long-term life of the dome.
- OpennessWhat we find stays accessible. Methods and insights enter The Ark Manual and support future Arks — shared practice, not closed authorship.
The Ark Manual is a living archive of methods, observations, and approaches shaped on site.
It holds how we build, observe, and decide together; tools and small inventions born during the lab; shared sensitivities — ways of reading weather, timing, and each other; questions that guide the next editions.
Each new Ark adds its own findings, versions, and experiences. The Manual becomes a long-term method carried by many teams across many years — not a standard to copy, but a practice to continue.
First release: Spring 2028
It holds how we build, observe, and decide together; tools and small inventions born during the lab; shared sensitivities — ways of reading weather, timing, and each other; questions that guide the next editions.
Each new Ark adds its own findings, versions, and experiences. The Manual becomes a long-term method carried by many teams across many years — not a standard to copy, but a practice to continue.
First release: Spring 2028
lineage
The Ark sits in conversation with laboratories where architecture, ecology, and public life already meet.
- Biosphere 2Arizona, USA.
Built as a closed ecological experiment, it now works as a climate research lab — a way of understanding Earth as a single organism. - Ecocentro IPECBrazil.
A living campus of permaculture, energy, and architecture, where education is practiced as coexistence with the environment. - Eden ProjectCornwall, UK.
Vast biomes that turn architecture into a living classroom and a habitat for planetary awareness.
join
Date: 20–30 Aug 2027
Venue: Dilijan, Armenia
Format: Art & Science Laboratory
Venue: Dilijan, Armenia
Format: Art & Science Laboratory
Leave your email and we’ll write when the open call opens in March 2027.
Get notified about open-call
partners
Partnerships
Art · science · ecology
The Ark grows through exchange with those who already work between art, science, and ecology. Partnerships are an exchange of experience, tools, and perspectives — a living network where ideas move across contexts.
As the project develops, new partners may appear through practice itself: those who choose to build their own Arks, guided by the same philosophy. Each new Ark is autonomous, and part of the shared ecosystem.
As the project develops, new partners may appear through practice itself: those who choose to build their own Arks, guided by the same philosophy. Each new Ark is autonomous, and part of the shared ecosystem.
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