Bio Design Lab South Asia - Delhi Lab Mycelium, Initiative by Goethe Insitut

Elemental Imprints: Bio Design Lab South Asia is initiated by Goethe-Institut South Asia in consultation with the Bio Design Lab at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG).

From 16–26 August 2026, the Goethe-Institut New Delhi Mycelium Lab brought together designers, artists, researchers and practitioners to explore fungal mycelium as a living, responsive material for design and architecture. Through input sessions, field observations, material experiments, hands-on cultivation and an Open Studio, the lab looked at mushroom mycelium as a collaborator one that grows, reacts and participates in the making process.

The lab was mentored by Bhakti Loonawat and Suyash Sawant, co-founders of Anomalia, together with Julia Ihls, Managing Director of the Bio Design Lab at HfG Karlsruhe and co-founder of Surreal Labor.

Bio design lab 2026, cohort and metors at the shroomery farm, Manesar, Haryana

Bhakti V Loonawat, Julia Ihls, Suyash S 

Suyash S, Pavni Anand, Julia Ihls, Bhakt V Loonawat, Hannah Jung

Input sessions at Shared Ecologies Delhi

Open studio at Max Muller Bhavan, Delhi

Project Cultivators: Anurag Singraur, Bharat Raj Thukral, Dasha Tsapenko, Harsha Durugadda, Kaanchi Chopra, Kuldeep Patil, Laura Waterstradt, Luisa Tovar Méndez, Mantej Kaur, Pim van de Noort, Ruby Richter, Sebastián Trujillo-Torres, Shivangi Agrawal, Shreni.

Project Keepers: Shroomery.in (facilities, expertise and material partners), Shared Ecologies and Project Otenga.

Image Credits: © Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi

Documentation: Shiv Ahuja, Meet Varvada and Akshay Jain.