Miriam Josi and Stella Lee Prowse (Aléa) (FR)
Color Experiments with Fungi
July 19th – July 29th 2026
Aléa is an experimental design and material research studio based in Paris. Miriam Josi (CH) and Stella Lee Prowse (AU) co-created Aléa in 2021 after completing a Master of Science in Nature Inspired Design at ENSCI – Les Ateliers (École nationale supérieure de création industrielle, Paris).
Their work explores growth, decay and waste, with the goal to develop regenerative methods of fabrication while honoring beauty in the process. Situated at the intersections of design, biology, and agriculture, Aléa’s practice blurs the boundaries between disciplines.
Their ongoing research project ‘Back to Dirt’ explores a unique bio-inclusive myco-fabrication process that utilizes mycelium, the root system of fungi, and local waste substrates to grow objects in soil. Winning the 2021 Boisbuchet Residency Award allowed them to test their process at full scale, where they grew the first underground myco-fabricated chair. Their process bypasses the need for sterilization and plastic moulds, examining the potential of mycelia’s regenerative capacities. Their research is supported by FAIRE Paris and has been exhibited at Pavillon d’Arsenal, France Design Week, FRAC Orleans, Biennale Amour Vivant, among others.
Aléa’s mission is to establish a deeper relationship between the natural and built environment by designing autonomous place-based systems for a post-fossil fuel future. Their aim is to take a critical approach to biodesign to avoid a trajectory of exploitation and control of nature and to instead imagine new ways of making that interact and share control and benefits with the other-than-human.
www.aleawork.com
The Workshop
This immersive workshop led by design studio Aléa Work explores color as a living, evolving process through fungi. Participants engage hands-on, dyeing with foraged mushrooms and natural pigments, as well as experimenting with mycelium to degrade and transform color in existing textiles.
The unique ecosystem of Domaine de Boisbuchet provides a site-specific framework for exploration. We will forage, observe, and cast wild experiments in collaboration with each other and the landscape. These ten days offer an in-depth introduction to the world of fungi, their life cycles and material potential.
Participants move between individual investigations and collective experiments, testing pigments, growing mycelium on textiles, and documenting color transformations. Challenging the common perception of mycelium as monochrome, the workshop reveals an underexplored fungal spectrum in which color emerges through interaction, time and material agency.
The workshop concludes with an individual material project informed by shared research and experimentation. Open to students, design professionals, and curious individuals interested in material research and experimental practices.