Project by Valeria Ramirez, Sofia Paniagua
Holobiont Futures begins with a simple question: what would happen if mycelium became part of our daily routines and the way we understand our homes, our bodies, and our neighborhood? Working directly with fungi: handling waste, watching it grow, and learning to care for it, shifted how we see materials and habits. Grounded in East Harlem, a place shaped by strong community networks and local knowledge, we imagine how the neighborhood could adapt if living with microbes became necessary for our health and environment. From this process, we outline a small pilot at three scales: domestic shifts that show how homes might change; communal mycelium kitchens in community gardens where people bring waste, grow material, and learn together, and a repair hub where mycelium pieces are grown again, fixed, or transformed. More than proposing new spaces, the project asks how these practices might create new encounters, new forms of care, and new ways of living with the organisms that already surround us.
