The new laboratory in the front hall of the Art Academy on Parallelweg in Den Bosch is almost ready for use. In that lab “Material Incubator” (MI), research is mainly done on the development and use possibilities of biobased materials, such as mycelium and algae.
In the front hall of the art academy in Den Bosch a major construction is being completed. The Material Incubator laboratory (MI) was completed in April and will be further furnished in the coming months. In Mi, research will be conducted by researchers from the Biobased Art and Design lectureship, led by professor Elvin Karana (Caradt). and by researchers from the Biobased Construction lectureship (Avans CoE BBE), led by Willem Böttger.
Unique collaboration
What is unique about MI is that artists, designers and scientists work together on an equal footing. There is collaboration with laboratories in Rotterdam (Blue City / Willem de Kooning Academy) and Delft (TU Delft / Industrial Design). The Avans Centre of Biobased Economy is a partner in the laboratory.
The first project to start immediately is the SIA RAAK project Building on Mycelium of lector Biobased Building Willem Böttger. Caradt is participating in this project. More projects focused on research into living materials will follow.
‘The dynamic relationship between humans and living artefacts will continue to evolve reciprocally with mutual care.’
Elvin Karana is Research Professor of Biobased Art and Design at the Avans and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, leading the research group Materializing Futures at TU/Delft.
The research group Biobased Art and Design capitalises on the role of artistic practice in unlocking the unique potentials of living organisms for everyday materials and communicating these to a broader public. In doing so, the group aims to instigate and accelerate our widespread understanding, further development and usage of such materials. The group’s research approach encourages tangible interactions with the living organisms, such as algae, fungi, plants and bacteria, to explore and understand their unique qualities and constraints through diverse technical and creative methods taking artists, designers and scientists as equal and active partners in the material creation.
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