Driving the Human: Seven Prototypes for Eco-social Renewal

This workshop imagines the transformation of cities in the future by co-designing with plants and fungi: the project »Myko.Plektonik«, with fungal mycelium grown with willow Structural textile, intertwines the biological and the built environment. While touching, listening, and smelling the prototypes, we will brainstorm the idea of growing buildings together and living in a flexible symbiosis with nature. Then we will set up together the Mobile mycology laboratory and discuss the city empowered with citizen science.
The workshop is a collaboration of the Department Applied and Molecular Microbiology of the Technische Universität Berlin, the Plektonik Structural Textile research group at Matters of Activity, and the Myco-Hackers group of TOP Lab that explores the role of fungal mycelium as a living organism that defines the design process, transforms its environment, and stands as a model of co-operative entanglements.

We invite you to stretch a bit - more precisely, the material: Welcome to the virtual exhibition space of »Stretching Materialities«. The exhibition makes it possible to experience aspects of active matter on six virtual floors. For example, our glass elevator takes you inside the microscopic interior of a real stone and afterwards all the way up into a cloud with its fascinating cloud particles. Rethinking matter means experiencing matter differently. In our VR experience, you can travel all six floors and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of matter and its secret activities.

»Designing with Waste« explores the circular materiality of turning local food and fiber waste into home products. It aims to rethink local waste streams, issues within the food and textile industries, our relationship to materials and community. This hands-on workshop is a collaboration between Circular Home Lab (@circular_home_lab), Paula Nerlich (@paula_nerlich) and Jessica Farmer (@studio_jessica_farmer) whose practices engage circular design and material research.

The research of the »Matters of Activity« Cluster of Excellence is not limited to reading and writing, particularly in the Experimental Zone where activities such as stitching, cracking, sketching, and stretching take place. Some of the materials residing there may even emit unpleasant odors and occasionally grow in unexpected ways. You are invited to join a walk-through of the former office of the important and controversial media theorist Friedrich Kittler for a unique opportunity to witness hands-on research in action.

This workshop invites participants to a collective exercise of imaginary storytelling, by looking into GPS data from migratory birds. Birds’ geographical information tells us not only about their biological behavior, but also reveals its correlation with human activities. The workshop attempts to open up a possibility of using bio-geo tracking technology as a tool for communion, beyond the level of understanding the species. Focusing on the migration route of a white stork named Jonas, an exercise of collective imagining allows participants to embody the bird and speculate on the bird’s multisensorial perceptions throughout its journey: what the bird may have seen, heard, smelled, or felt. The stories are then collected and connected together.

Tempeh is a protein-rich food that has gained popularity in recent years due to its health benefits and versatility in cooking. In this Ferment-Activity Club workshop, we will go beyond the human health perspective. In order to expand our sensitivities into a multi-species worldview, we will explore the political and ecological dimensions of home-growing practices. Making food together in MoA's central kitchen, designer Emma Sicher and anthropologist Maxime Le Calvé will take us on a journey to embrace your potential as a fungal caretaker and welcome an intercultural perspective on the microbiome.

The research of the »Matters of Activity« Cluster of Excellence is not limited to reading and writing, particularly in the Experimental Zone where activities such as stitching, cracking, sketching, and stretching take place. Some of the materials residing there may even emit unpleasant odours and occasionally grow in unexpected ways. You are invited to join a walk-through of the former office of the important and controversial media theorist Friedrich Kittler for a unique opportunity to witness hands-on research in action.

• Freo Majer (Artistic Director »Driving the Human«)
• Martina Schraudner (Director »Fraunhofer Center for Responsible Research and Innovation«)
• Wolfgang Schäffner (Director »Matters of Activity«)

Vera Sacchetti (Driving the Human)

Christian Stein (Matters of Activity)
Sandra Fendl (acatech)
Kim Albrecht (scientist in residence at ZKM)
Paula Nerlich (Human Bacteria Interfaces)
tba (Backpack of Wings)