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The past few decades brought a revolution in computer software and hardware; today we are on the cusp of a materials revolution. If yesterday we programmed computers and other machines, today we program matter itself. This has created new capabilities in design, computing, and fabrication, which allow us to program proteins and bacteria, to generate self-transforming wood products and architectural details, and to create clothing from "intelligent textiles" that grow themselves. This book offers essays and sample projects from the front lines of the emerging field of active matter. Active matter and programmable materials are at the intersection of science, art, design, and engineering, with applications in fields from biology and computer science to architecture and fashion.

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Skylar Tibbits is Assistant Professor of Design Research in the Department of Architecture at MIT and the Founder and Codirector of MITs Self-Assembly Lab. His work has been exhibited at the Guggenheim in New York, the FRAC Centre, the Beijing Biennale, and the Centre Pompidou.

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