MY-CO PLACE: Architecture of sustainable growth.
Opening hours: Tuesday - Sunday 12.00 - 20.00 hrs.
Lecture series: every Monday 19.00 - 21.00 h
[check out the advertisment] [check out upcoming talks] [workshops]
Finissage MY-CO PLACE (31.07.): Transdisciplinarity - a look at the past months and into the future
Panel discussion with Vera Meyer (TU Berlin), Sven Pfeiffer (HS Bochum), Adrienne Goehler (ZNE!) and Albert Lang (TU Berlin | UdK)
During 10 exciting weeks at MY-CO PLACE we have learned, experienced and discussed a lot. On the evening of July 31, we will reflect on this time and take a look into the future. MY-CO PLACE initiators Vera Meyer and Sven Pfeifer would like to talk with the curator and publicist Adrienne Goehler and the dramaturge and designer Albert Lang about experiences of inter- and transdisciplinary work, uncover possibilities and obstacles, and debate possible solutions for a transdisciplinary future.
[participate online]
Lecture 10 (24.07): Carbon cycles, Carbon storage and cascading biomass use – about the role of fungal biotechnology in the circular economy
Vera Susanne Rotter, Mohadese Morsalpoor, Johannes Scholz and Oliver Larsen (TU Berlin)
Renewable biomass is a scarce resource. Nevertheless, it is a key building block in the transformation away from fossil fuels. Therefore, options for the use of waste biomass are currently discussed in a complex and controversial way. In this talk, conceptual biomass utilization scenarios using the example of the waste products "straw" and "waste wood" will be presented, as well as utilization competitions and conflicting goals will be highlighted. The role of fungal biotechnology for long-term carbon storage will also be discussed.
Lecture 9 (17.07): GreenCHEM - The ecosystem for innovations in green chemistry
Martin Rahmel (Chemical Invention Factory | TU Berlin)
Why do we need innovations in chemistry? What is the current status in Germany? What are the features of green chemistry? What characterizes a good ecosystem? Why is Berlin a good place for it? Martin Rahmel aims to answer these questions.
Lecture 8 (10.07): Myko.Plektonik - An Exploration of fungal growth on Structural textiles
Natalija Miodragovic and Dimitra Almpani-Lekka (Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity"), assisted by Andrija Mihailovic.
The project Myko.Plektonik investigates architectural design as a co-operation between plants and filamentous fungi, driven by mycelial growth and textile techniques. In Myko.Plektonik, fungal mycelium is grown within knitted willow structures, intertwining the biological and the built environment.
It is a project that defines new ways of collaboration between design and science as well as between different local species.
During the lecture we will have the opportunity to see, touch and smell some of the prototypes and discuss a future of architecture in the cities where we can grow buildings and live in a flexible symbiosis with nature. The lecture will be held in English.
Lecture 7 (03.07): Down where the waters flow – hydroponics and aquaponics as urban practices
Grit Bürgow and Anja Steglich (Stadtmanufaktur Berlin | TU Berlin)
The speakers will show living lab work for the circular city, describe technologies and practices that link water treatment and food production. They are initiators of such projects in the living lab platform StadtManufaktur, located in the Science and Society executive department of the TU Berlin.
Lecture 6 (26.06.): Mycofabrication and growing mushrooms in communities, DIY and citizen science approaches
Alessandro Volpato (TOP e.V.) and guests
After spreading the know-how of fabricating with mushroom mycelium, individuals working on fungal research using a scientific, artistic or applied approach will present their work, in forms of talks, exhibitions and performances. After this session, we will discuss how dissemination impacted some individuals of the society, and which inputs can be returned to the academia for further work. All speakers and their topics can be found in the attached link. The talks will be in English.
Lecture 5 (19.06.): Fungal mycelium for BIT and UTR - tinder sponge visions with the Berlin Institute for Technology Transfer and the Urban Tech Republic.
Stephanie Ambrosius-Groß and Simon Wimmer (Tegel Projekt GmbH) with Otto Behrend and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Nicolas Lewkowicz (BIT GmbH)
The team from the Berlin Institute for Technology Transfer and Urban Tech Republic / Tegel Projekt GmbH came across the fungal mycelium rather by coincidence. Here they explain their approaches to using the fungal mycelium as a building material.
Lecture 4 (12.06.): Preparation of a circular Bauakademie
Achim Wollschläger (Bundesstiftung Bauakademie), Georg Hubmann (TU Berlin) and Prof. Mikala Holme Samsøe (Augsburg Technical University of Applied Sciences, Ensømble Architektur)
The potentials and methodological approaches of circular construction for the Berlin Bauakademie were investigated in a study in the Department of Urban Design and Sustainable Urban Development at the TU Berlin. The results obtained and their securing in the competition are discussed by Achim Wollschläger of the Bundesstiftung Bauakademie together with the author Georg Hubmann and the architect Mikala Holme Samsøe.
Special Event (Sun, June 11, 2023, 5 pm): Mushrooms – From art to industry
Talk: Philip Ross | MycoWorks
The artist Philip Ross is one of the pioneers of fungal-based material science. His artistic research on fungal fruiting bodies led to a deep understanding of the applied potential of fungal mycelia. His studies led to the idea of developing leather alternatives from fungal mycelia and the founding of the American biotech company MycoWorks. In his talk, Phil will talk about his personal journey from artist to entrepreneur and how MycoWorks aims to revolutionise the leather and textile industry.
Lecture 3 (05.06.): Fungi-Art-Lab and artistic Material-Cycle-Workshop
Valeria Fahrenkrog, Nora Wilhelm and Erik Göngrich, MITKUNSTZENTRALE Berlin
How can we artistically address the big questions of climate change? How can we generate material cycles on a small level that are scalable for larger contexts? How can we obtain new materials and ideas from leftovers? What does all of this have to do with the model project Haus der Statistik at Alexanderplatz in Berlin? How can art in construction be designed in a participatory and climate-neutral way? How to work collaboratively with the neighborhood? To all these questions, the three of us will try to share our knowledge and find answers.
Lecture 2 (22.05.): Fungal Architectures
Prof. Sven Pfeiffer, Bochum University of Applied Sciences discusses with Ludwig Heimbach, ludwig heimbach architektur
On the way to circular construction, fungi and other biomaterials are emerging as fascinating alternatives to conventional materials. What influence do these materials have on our idea of space and architecture as something permanent and unchangeable? What areas of application are conceivable and what are the challenges?
Lecture 1 (15.05.): Fungi build future
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vera Meyer, TU Berlin
Fungi are our constant companions as they live in and on us. Could we even live in fungal houses in the future? We at TU Berlin think YES and are exploring this vision together with participants from science, art and society.
Today's fungal biotechnology explores how to harness fungal metabolic potentials for a sustainable and circular bioeconomy. Soon, not only medicines, enzymes and biofuels will be produced with fungi, but also clothing, furniture, even houses. MY-CO PLACE focuses on how this could work and which biobased scenarios for possible living environments of the future with and through fungi seem possible to us today.
MY-CO PLACE is a temporary meeting space in the heart of Berlin that places fungi and fungal materials at the center of a debate about future ways of building as well as ways of living for humans. From May 12 to July 31, 2023, BHROX Bauhaus reuse - an urban laboratory for transdisciplinary education, research and participation in the middle of Ernst-Reuter-Platz - will be transformed into a mushroom place.
Here, in MY-CO PLACE, visitors can come into direct contact with the microscopically small, yet macroscopically tangible world of fungi. This place will be a learning station, exhibition space and discussion platform in which sustainable living with and through fungi can be experienced, thought through and understood.
MY-CO PLACE is a transdisciplinary real laboratory by Prof. Vera Meyer (TU Berlin) and Prof. Sven Pfeiffer (Bochum University of Applied Sciences) and, as part of StadtManufaktur Berlin, enables scientists, students and partners from culture, civil society, business and politics to come together. In lectures, workshops, seminars and teaching projects, potentials and utopias for a sustainable built environment will be discussed together and solution scenarios for the metropolitan region Berlin-Brandenburg will be developed collaboratively.
Event location:
BHROX bauhaus reuse, Ernst-Reuter-Platz Berlin
(center island, access via subway station Ernst-Reuter-Platz)
