Fungi Lab
since December 2024, Kyiv

The HOPE HOME • НАДІЯ Fungi Lab opened in December 2024: a citizen science initiative in Kyiv, affiliated with KNUCA University and part of the Ostriv Platform’s makerspace for innovative materials. It is an open space for experimentation, learning, and collaborative development—bringing together architects, scientists, artists, ecologists, and activists. The Lab’s work rests on three pillars: community building, education, and research.

Fungi are ready to collaborate—not only as a material for zero-CO₂ reconstruction but also as a means of reducing hazardous waste. Consequently, a key focus of the Lab is minimizing the 1.5 billion tons of rubble and war debris by processing fungi into building materials.

Fungi Lab in 2026

The team continued public lectures and workshops, focusing on ecological practices and ways in which Fungi can protect the quality of soil and water ecosystems.
One of the two biggest experiences for the Lab was the trip to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and it’s Ecological Biosphere Reserve. The second trip to the Bondarivske Wetlands connected the Lab with the national eco-advocacy organisation Ecoaction (Eco-Diya) and its volunteer community.
This year, the Ukrainian Fungi community working across science, ecology, design, and architecture has grown significantly in its transdisciplinary understanding and exploration of fungi-based materials as a possible part of more sustainable approaches to construction and future reconstruction in Ukraine.

Fungi Lab in 2025

In 2025, the Fungi Lab focused on developing its experimental and educational activities around fungi-based materials and networking with initiatives in the fields of ecology, design, science, and biofabrication. Followed by first fungi cultivation experiments.
The Lab became as an Citizen Science initiative a kick-start project of IMPETUS, funded by Horizon Europe. With this support the Lab worked with fungi not only as a material, but as a way to understand relationships between living systems, culture, and the built environment. Different perspectives on fungi were explored, from fermentation to urban ecology to culture and everyday life.

Fungi Lab in 2024

In December 2024, HOPE HOME • НАДІЯ opened the HOPE HOME 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 considered 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.