Based in Taipei, Taiwan, petrichor is an experimental learning space.
PETRICHOR
EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION
TAIPEI, TAIWAN
For the scientists,
The word petrichor describes the pleasant earthy smell that arises when rain falls on dry soil and plants.
Coming from years of project-based learning that is limited by the context of Taiwan’s existing education system and cram school culture, we wanted to imagine something different. We believe that scientists are artists and artists are scientists, and that the continued separation of the two limits the imagination of what’s possible.
As traditional education continues to cultivate vocational thinking caused by hyper-specialization induced fragmentation, we want to picture a generation of cross-disciplinary thinkers. We believe a recognition of how seemingly divergent disciplines interplay to create is important for the next generation of scientists.
Our First Program:
Biotech x Design x Art
Our first program offering is a research-based biotechnology-centric program that interplays design and art for students in highschool / of highschool age; we hope to gather a group of creative people that have the courage to imagine beyond the traditional classroom, beyond the internet’s “givens”—to not just solve problems predefined for them, but to understand the world more deeply, so as to discover what they really matters to them.
Like AI, biotechnology is undoubtedly going to play a big role in the years to come. It is more important now to imagine, with a creative mind, what it can become.
Students in this program will have the opportunity to participate in two competitions: BDC (Biodesign Challenge) & iGEM (international Genetically Engineered Machine). While competitions and their results are not the destination, if done right, they can catalyze creative thinking and innovation, allowing ideas to manifest.
Biodesign Challenge: Orbweaver, University of Texas at Austin, 2023.