Is it a mushroom farm? Is it a tower? Is it fertile soil? Is it a corn field? Is it a pigeon tower?
By Arne Hendriks
The mycelium pigeon tower is a constant process of one state moving into the next. After the mushroom harvest, the old mycelium bricks are used to build a tower, a tower aspiring to become soil, the soil bringing forth the corn, the corn eaten by resident pigeons that fertilize the soil with their droppings while corn foliage is turned into blocks of mycelium substrate to once again grow mushrooms.
In the Summer of 2020, we started experimenting with different shapes and methods to build this living cycle, and investigate material decomposition as part of the design process. Different towers will emerge at the Mediamatic Biotoop. You are invited to build with us and to discuss the process with Arne Hendriks at one of his talks.
Is it a mushroom farm? Is it a tower? Is it fertile ground? Is it a maize field? Is it a pigeon tower?
Come admire the pigeon towers during museum night. From waste streams from mushroom production to pigeons as flying fertilizers. The towers are multifaceted and unique and we would love to share…
Georgia and Arne talk about their four pigeon children.
After two weeks of house arrest to allow their homing instincts to mature and feel at home in the mycelium pigeon tower we opened the door. Our pigeon children are now free to go where they want. It's a moment that is at least as exciting for the parents as it is for the pigeons.
On the 7th of June 2022, almost two years after we first started learning how to build pigeon towers with waste mycelium, we introduced the first four squab (young pigeons) into their new living spaces.
While mushrooms emerge, grow, mature and decay, the towers shrink and bend under their own weight. And we keep building. Trying to reach and hold the height of the tower. We feel the need to repair holes that start to show. And it feels good. But how long can we keep building and repairing? At what…
The pigeon and the mycelium are in joint agreement. Pigeons don’t nest on soggy surfaces and mycelium prefers high humidity, but don’t like the wet. It is critical: The tower needs a roof. But what is the right material?
Feral city pigeons have a bad reputation but that says more about us humans than it says about the pigeon. It's also a relatively recent perception. Throughout history, pigeons have always been highly valued, both for their incredible skills to find their way home, as well as for their meat and the…
