Compostable Cities began as a vision to create circular and regenerative architecture through biological processes. Supported by KU Leuven as the first interdisciplinary collaboration between the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Engineering Technology, the research has since evolved to focus more deeply on biomaterials—where fungal metabolism and mineral precipitation form the foundation for new, durable building composites. This shift keeps the project closely connected to architecture, emphasizing material design as a living, regenerative process rather than a waste-to-waste cycle.
This evolution laid the groundwork for the next phase of the project:
A new generation of biomineralised mycelium architecture.

Building upon the foundations of Compostable Cities, this research explores a new generation of living materials that merge fungal growth with mineral formation. By studying how these biological processes can strengthen and bind natural aggregates, the project aims to develop durable, regenerative biocomposites for architectural use. Funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO), it is a collaboration between the BioTeC+ research group (Faculty of Engineering Technology) and the Regenerative Architecture, Art and Design (RAAD) research group (Faculty of Architecture) at KU Leuven. The outcome envisions materials that embody circularity which is capable of growth, repair, and reintegration within the built environment.

In September 2023 I was invited to speak at the RILEM “Designing Alongside Nature” peer-to-peer webinar, where I presented on the potential of fungal biocomposites made from construction and demolition waste. My talk explored how different fungal strains behave in mineral-rich environments and how their growth and metabolic activity can help bind waste materials into stronger, more sustainable composites. Through this contribution, I joined a conversation at the intersection of biotechnology and construction, pushing the boundary of what architecture can become when it works with life, not against it.

Presented at the 4th MEEP Symposium 2022 in Lucerne, Switzerland, this design-led proposal envisions a memorial site where bioelectrical technologies form an active symbiosis between soil systems and rituals of remembrance. The project explores how living energy processes can transform grief into acts of regeneration — allowing the landscape itself to participate in memory and renewal.