Mycelium+ Workshop

Urban Atölye and Arup Türkiye co-ran the first of two workshops as part of their community-based mycelium cultivation research, Digital Craftsmanship of Urban Living Rooms with Bio-Based Materials: Community-Based Research on Techniques and Methodologies on Mycelium Cultivation at Istanbul Bilgi University, Faculty of Architecture on January 6, 2022. The academic workshop, titled Mycelium+ With, brought together architecture students to design and carry out their own mycelium cultivation experiments. Working from an operative matrix of defined choices on substrates, cast types, growing environments and desired outcomes, participants produced their own growth recipes, filled their chosen moulds and initiated the cultivation process under guided conditions.

Because mycelium takes roughly two weeks to fully colonise a substrate, the hands-on session was followed by an interim review and then a final review. During these sessions, invited guests with backgrounds in biomaterial research provided feedback on both the processes and the outcomes, generating substantive discussion on the potential of mycelium as a building and design material. The workshop drew directly on the extensive preparatory trials Urban Atölye had run in the months prior, which systematically tested variables including mushroom typology, substrate composition, mould geometry, humidity and sterilisation method across more than a hundred experiments.

Mycelium+ With was one of the first events of its kind in Türkiye to place mycelium cultivation directly in the hands of students in an academic setting. The documented outcomes and student work fed into the second, public-facing phase of the research, which culminated in the [Mycelium In] workshop at Postane Istanbul the following month.