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Underbug (NL) gives forgotten insects a voice. In collaboration with ecologists and through 3D-printed ceramics, we create shelters that are more than design: they are protest, artwork, and refuge. In this way, we help biodiversity thrive in urban landscapes.
Designing refuges for the unseen insects
The Insect Crisis
Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate. Nearly 75% have vanished in just three decades. This silent collapse undermines the very systems we depend on: pollination, soil health, food webs. What is lost on a small scale echoes across entire ecosystems. Underbug creates ceramic shelters: sculptural refuges designed not only for function but for meaning. Developed in dialogue with ecologists and entomologists, each piece is grounded in research yet shaped as an artwork.
The Method
Using 3D-printed ceramics, these shelters make space for ladybirds, lacewings, and other overlooked species, inviting them back into our gardens, balconies, and cities. Technology merges with craft to form habitats that are as resilient as they are poetic.
The Vision
More than objects, these shelters are instruments of awareness. They spark protection, make biodiversity visible again, and give overlooked lives a stage. Small lives return — and with them, resilience in our ecosystems.
