Fungi Lab
December 2024, Kyiv

In December 2024, HOPE HOME • НАДІЯ opened the Fungi Lab – a Citizen Science initiative in Kyiv, based at the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture (KNUCA) as part of the Ostriv Platform’s Makerspace for Innovative Materials.

The lab is an open space for experimentation, learning, and collaborative development, bringing together architects, researchers, artists, ecologists, and activists. Its work is built on three pillars: community building, education, and research.

Fungi offer new opportunities for collaboration—not only as a construction material for net-zero carbon reconstruction, but also as a way to reduce hazardous waste. One of the laboratory’s key research areas is exploring how 1.5 billion tonnes of war debris and rubble can be transformed into new building materials using fungal mycelium.