Bar Mycelium

Growing a bar

During a 5 week period before the start of the Dutch Design Week; Bio Artist Dasha Tsapenko, Mycologist Pim van de Noort and Biotechnologist Nick van Biezen will grow a living environment from mycelium. From the bar counter through to the cocktail glasses, the entire environment would be shaped by fungal materials, processes and cultures. The project will primarily be the culmination of the works of Dasha Tsapenko’s Scores for Growth* and Nick van Biezen’s research into fungi based grown dyes. The growing process will be guided by the expert knowledge of Mycologist Pim van de Noort.

Scores for Growth*

Scores for Growth is a biomaterial research methodology developed by Dasha Tsapenko. The methodology proposes working in collaboration with mycelium—the living network of fungi that spreads through organic matter, binding, digesting, and transforming it. Each work begins as a score — a designed framework of form, structure, and conditions for another organism to delve into and act upon. Rather than determining a fixed outcome, the score sets the parameters within which life can emerge.

Dasha Tsapenko

Bioartist, material researcher, and educator based in the Netherlands. She works at the intersection of biodesign, fashion, and material research, with a focus on living systems, particularly fungal mycelium. Her practice explores growth, decay, and transformation as fundamental design tools. Her labour intensive practice combines craftsmanship with biological growth to challenge conventional ideas of authorship and production.