Mutual [Micro] Biome Care Part 2 Project 2025 Deniz Mahir Dagtekin Columbia University | USA What if architecture no longer extracted from nature, but became part of it?This project proposes an architectural paradigm rooted in microbiome care, mutualism, and regenerative materials. Drawing from research on the island of Chios, where Mastiha resin is harvested from the Pistacia lentiscus tree, it explores how resins can heal both the body and the built environment. The building site is situated in Exarchia, a vibrant area of Athens that is struggling with decaying buildings. The proposal aims at developing a system that serves the intestines of the building and its inhabitants, the local environment and the city.In this context a reimagined polykatoikia becomes a living system:Resin trees such as the Aleppo Pine or Mastiha tree grow within an exoskeletal frame, and lung- like vents circulate beneficial microbes throughout the building.Resin is more than structure, it seals, heals, purifies, and connects. Residents participate in resin-harvesting rituals while closed-loop systems reuse nutrients and air. A hot resin gun serves as both tool and interface, replacing synthetic adhesives with natural bonding.The “cathedral of the microbiome” embraces slowness, decay, and ecological intelligence. It imagines buildings as co-produced organisms, spaces of exchange between humans, microbes, and trees. Tutor(s)