REFUGIO FÚNGICO
Refugio Fúngico is an experimental, biotechnological research and development project that proposes to realize an ephemeral bio-installation in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. The conceptual aim of the project is to make tangible the whole spectrum of possible relations and connections between the material used and the human experience.
The installation is built using biomaterial that consists of a living organism called Mycelium from the “kingdom of fungi” mixed with organic waste. Mycelium consists of microscopic filaments called hyphae that expand in the form of a rhizomatic network, feeding on inert matter, agglomerating organic waste and generating a structure whose final resistance can surpass that of concrete. Concurrently, Mycelium is characterized by its particular lightness, its fireproof and thermoacoustic properties and its buoyancy in water due to its porosity. As it is the product of combining Mycelium with organic waste, the Refugio’s building material is fully biodegradable and compostable. Consequently, the material can be reinserted into the natural environment as fertilizer once it has fulfilled its building function. This circular reasoning ensures the material’s return to the earth to nourish new life.
The most significant evolutionary leaps in species have been made through cooperation. Alliances between humans and nature allow us to move away from our anthropocentric perspective driven by an exploitation-predation mindset. Consequently, the intentional act of forming them commits humans to (re)learn to respect, take care of, and sustainably exist within a joint ecosystemic fabric.
The installation therefore proposes to configure a shelter space generated from the repetition of Mycelium bricks made from an edible mushroom species called Ganoderma Lucidum (Reishi). This shelter forms a permeable boundary that functions as an exchange membrane between the interior and the exterior. The interaction with the environment is articulated by the Mycelium’s natural characteristic to self-express in variations of texture and color derived from changes in climate and atmosphere that it is exposed to. This dynamic process of self-expression organically mirrors what is unpredictable and indefinite; it allows us to reflect on the concepts of mutability, ephemerality, and connection.
The Refugio further visualizes the capacity to generate tools at the intersection of nature, technology, and design for high social value and a decisively positive environmental impact. Concretely, discarded materials from the local food and wood industries are reused for the production of the organic waste component of the biomaterial. Lastly, the installation incorporates sonic expression by translating the bio-data obtained from the living Mycelium bricks’ activity into perceivable sound, thus rendering the space it configures as a habitat-shelter to the human touch, eye, and ear.
