SPORECAST: A Spore-tacular conversation on fungal futures in Landscape Architecture and the climate crisis

LISTEN TO SPORECAST

 

MEET THE HOSTS

Kevin Wong, Kenzie Parry, & Elliot Bellis – 2nd year MLA + MARCLA students at the University of British Columbia, with a shared passion for fungi.

Music by Elliot’s saxophone (original piece inspired by fungi + bonus cover of Bird’s Lament by Moondog.

MEET THE GUESTS

Courtney Goode | Landscape Architect, educator, and researcher at RISD, based in Providence, Rhode Island. She is the Founding Principal of Goode Landscape Studio, specializing in addressing challenges with climate change and improved access and equity in public space. Courtney became intrigued by fungi while researching sustainable packaging materials in 2010 where she came across living mycelial systems and worked with OffShoots on the MassDOT Mycofiltration Project, resulting in a report on mycofiltration systems applicable to urban municipalities, specifically in the case of Massachusetts. Learn more about Courtney’s firm here.

Joseph Dahmen | Faculty member in the SALA program at UBC in Vancouver, BC, Joe specializes in sustainable materials applicable to landscape architecture and architecture. He runs AFJD Studio with his partner Amber Frid-Jimenez and co-founded Watershet Materials LLC. Joe has worked with students to explore the use of mycelium in public furniture, introducing biodegradable components to our landscapes and challenging conventional practices toward a more sustainable ethos of designing with living materials. Learn more about Joe Dahmen here. 

THE FRUITING BODY

Mycology is a growing topic across disciplines, and in recent years, has skyrocketed throughout the arts and sciences as a model for medicine, ecosystem relations, and our future landscape adaptation. Application currently falls short within the field of Landscape Architecture, a field in need of tools and models for landscape remediation in a changing climate. Where does mycology currently stand within the climate crisis and what are some applications toward a more fungal future in the field of Landscape Architecture?

Sporecast asks for a celebration of fungi in a changing climate toward connective hope in an unknown future. Come on a trip with us as we learn from professionals working with fungi to create climate-friendly futures within the field of Landscape Architecture, learn about the vast unknown of mycology, and reflect on imagined future implications of the teaching of fungi. Sit, back, grab a cup of coffee, and reflect on a future full of hopeful unknown and delightful decay. 

MYCELIUM (helpful resources!)

Direct references in podcast
Recommended books our team loves about fungi:

Tsing, A.L. (2015) The mushroom at the end of the world: On the possibility of life in capitalist ruins. Princeton University Press.

Stamets, P. (2005) Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World. Book, Whole. Berkeley;Toronto; Ten Speed Press, 2005. https://go.exlibris.link/mFlXzPrm.

Darwish, L (2013). Canada Commons: Books & Documents, Coherent Digital (Firm), and Canadian Electronic Library (Firm). Earth Repair: A Grassroots Guide to Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes. Earth Repair. 1st ed. Book, Whole. Gabriola, BC: New Society Publishers https://go.exlibris.link/P860Zj1F.

Heller, M. & Cotter, T. (2014) Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation.” Library Journal 139, no. 15 (September 15, 2014): 102–3.

Promising papers about fungi + remediation:

Sieweke, J. (2023) Deliberate and Less Intentional Urban Forests. Journal of Landscape Architecture (Wageningen, Netherlands) 18, no. 1: 62–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/18626033.2023.2258726.

Bedir, M. (2022) The Promise of Mycelium as a New Tool for Low-Maintenance Stormwater Management. Landscape Architecture Magazine 112, no. 3: 160–160.

Nikota, K. (2018) Mycology Applications for Landscape Architecture. University of Guelph. https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/08d42a9b-0376-41b4-b34c-0bbafbc9055a/content

Ghazvinian, A. & Gursoy, B. (2022). BASICS OF BUILDING WITH MYCELIUM-BASED BIO-COMPOSITES. Journal of Green Building, no. Journal Article https://doi.org/10.3992/jgb.17.1.37.