It’s now open the call for abstracts for XY 18 January – June 2026
Edited by Fabrizio Gay
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognised two fundamental contributions to computational protein design. AlphaFold, developed by Google DeepMind, predicts the three-dimensional and dynamic structure of proteins from their amino acid sequences with accuracy comparable to experimental methods. Rosetta, developed at the David Baker Laboratory, University of Washington, enables de novo protein design by combining physical modelling, optimisation algorithms, and statistical approaches, producing enzymes with unprecedented functions such as pollutant degradation or neutralisation of pathogenic viruses.
These systems are paradigmatic examples of artificial exaptation: AlphaFold maps the space of possible proteins, revealing latent structures and functions, while Rosetta explores their configurations, reusing molecular modules and physical principles in combinations not observed in nature. Although guided by human objectives, they operate according to an adaptive logic similar to evolutionary processes that co-opt pre-existing traits for new functions. They do not create ex novo, but refunctionalise and re-signify existing configurations.
The concept of exaptation, anticipated by Darwinian observations and formalised in biology by Gould and Vrba (1982), denotes the reuse of traits developed for different or non-adaptive functions. Similar dynamics emerge in theories of artefact and cultural evolution: from the technical concretisation of objects (Simondon; Leroi-Gourhan) to anthropological bricolage (Lévi-Strauss; Ingold), from the transformation of the mundane into art (Danto) to processes of translation across semiotic systems (Lotman; Floch; Fontanille). Across these contexts, a shared logic of co-option, reuse, recombination, and re-signification emerges.
Today, exaptation is not merely a theoretical principle but an operational logic, amplified by the capabilities of generative Artificial Intelligence models such as AlphaFold and Large Multimodal Models (LMM), trained on heterogeneous datasets. In these tools, exaptation guides the transformation of informational patterns – images, styles, structures, morphologies – at unprecedented scale and speed, making it central to contemporary creative and design processes.Issue 18 of “XY”, updating the theoretical perspectives proposed by Roberto de Rubertis in Darwin architetto (2012), invites scholars, designers, and researchers to submit contributions exploring artificial exaptation as a generative principle, interpretive lens, or design model.
Friday, January 9, 2026: publication of the call for abstracts
Friday, February 13, 2026: abstract submission
Text in the author’s native language (maximum 2,000 characters including spaces and avoiding notes to the text), an image with caption and related credits. The Scientific Committee and the Editorial Board evaluate and select the proposals based on thematic importance and meaningful clarity criteria.
Friday, March 6, 2026: notification of the abstract acceptance (or rejection)
Friday, May 1, 2026: full paper submission (in the author’s native language)
Complete text with abstract and any notes (15,000‒30,000 characters including spaces), 8‒15 images with captions and related credits (one image every 2,000 characters) chosen for their specific expressive originality. The editorial review precedes the scientific one as a preliminary quality assessment. Then the papers are submitted to the double-blind peer review by recognized experts, who have the task of verifying the scientific contents.
Friday, June 5, 2026: notification of the paper reception (or non-reception) / request for additional notes
Friday, June 26, 2026: final paper submission (in English and the author’s native language)Full text in the author’s native language updated on the basis of the results of the scientific review, text in English conforming to the definitive version in the mother tongue.
Friday, July 17, 2026: publication of the magazine issue
CALL FOR THE COVER IMAGE – Deadline May 1, 2026
With obvious or allusive reference to the topic ‘Artificial Exaptation’, the journal invites interested people to submit a proposal for the cover images (info@xydigitale.it). The Editorial Board will anonymously transmit all the submitted images to the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Review Committee. The image that receive the most preference will be published on the cover, while the others will be used on the pages of the journal’s two issues. Each image (vertical .jpg, base 15 cm, 600 dpi, not exceeding 10 Mb) must be accompanied by an illustrative caption (.doc/.odt, about 500 characters) that includes the name of the proposer as well as the credits of the image (author, title, year, technique and references).