Lara Ippolito, a student in Caradt’s Biobased Art and Design group, is exploring how to regenerate paper so that it can become an endlessly reusable material.
She worked with mycelium, a live organism, transforming used paper from an exhibition into soil. Lara tested the abilities of the mycelium to grow on paper, and its degradation in soil. Her thesis embeds the concept of metamorphosis within these transformations. She intends to draw attention to the possibilities for developing sustainable alternatives to recycling and archiving within the museum field.
Ongoing project
Contributors:
Serena Buscone, Emma van der Leest, Emma Luitjens, Ellen Zoete.
About Lara Ippolito:
Lara Ippolito is an interdisciplinary designer who works across interior design and bio design. She has acted as exhibition organizer for Nieuwe Instituut, collaborating on the London Design Biennale 2023, and Venice Biennale 2023. She also conducts research in the biolab, where she works with mycelium.
Lara can lose herself gazing at the sea, at a hidden path, an unexpected turn of light, milky coffee in the morning light, cats on dry walls, or plants in her garden. Everything, for her, is worthy of attention. She sought a course that would train her eyes and hone her skills. She went to Milan to study interior design at Politecnico di Milano, and then continued her studies with a Situated Design course in the Netherlands, where she specialized in bio design. These experiences had a powerful effect on her development, personally and as a designer. Solar, curious, and open to new experiences or adventures, she is also a member of Servas, the research design network Antropodiario, and a National Member of EASA Italia, European Architecture Students Assembly.
