Exhibitions
HOST's projects and exhibitions explore how design, materials and new ways of making can help us rethink the resources around us. Developed through collaborations with designers, researchers, architects and industry, they bring ideas in circular and regenerative design into physical spaces - making them visible, tangible and easier to imagine as part of everyday life.
●
Bio-Based Architecture & Interior Design
HOST X PLP Architecture / SumBioTecture, 2023
Produced in collaboration with PLP Architecture, SumBioTecture explored the Symbiocene - a proposed next era in human history characterised by the reintegration of humans and nature. Yet such a future is far from inevitable. With the built environment responsible for nearly half of global carbon emissions, transitioning towards a more symbiotic relationship with nature requires deliberate action and a fundamental reconsideration of how we design and build.
SumBioTecture placed collaboration, rather than command, at the heart of this approach, exploring how artists, architects and designers can play an important role in reconnecting the natural and built environments.
Featuring mycelium-based innovations by Mykor, MYCEEN and CaraCara Design Studio – all represented in HOST's collection – alongside a modular system developed by PLP Architecture, the exhibition examined the potential of fungi-grown materials and adaptable architectural systems to transform the objects and spaces we inhabit.
At a time when commercial applications and practical knowledge of mycelium-based materials remain relatively limited, the exhibition drew on HOST's extensive engagement with this emerging field. Beyond the participating studios, HOST has worked with practitioners including Blast Studio and Ty Syml, reflecting the breadth of its experience within the UK's developing mycelium design landscape.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation x IDEO
Redesigning the Future, 2023
Part of HOST's collection, the mycelium lights by CaraCara Design Studio were selected by IDEO for an immersive exhibition imagining the home of the future – one where waste no longer exists. The lighting installation served as a focal point, demonstrating how alternative materials and approaches to design could help bring this vision to life.
Made using mycelium, the root-like network of fungi, the light bodies demonstrate how biological materials can be grown into functional, sculptural forms rather than manufactured from conventional resources. Their organic textures and distinctive appearance reveal the potential of this renewable material to offer an alternative approach to contemporary lighting design.
Presented as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s annual summit, Redesigning the Future, the installation brought circular thinking to life through materials, objects and ideas demonstrating alternative ways of designing and making. Experienced by more than 1,000 attendees, the exhibition brought together leaders from industry, innovation and academia to explore what a circular future could look like in practice.
North London Waste Authority x Groundwork
Repair & Reuse, 2022
HOST took part in Repair & Reuse, a series of community showcases organised by the North London Waste Authority and Groundwork across North London’s seven boroughs. HOST presented a diverse collection of homeware demonstrating different approaches to upcycling across multiple waste streams, including textiles, glass, scrap metal, construction waste, biowaste and paper.
Designed to engage a broad and diverse audience, each event responded to its local community while demonstrating how extending the life and value of existing resources can become part of everyday life.
Islington Greener Together Festival
Why Hemp Matters, 2021
Presented as part of Islington’s Together Greener Festival, Why Hemp Matters was an exhibition exploring the remarkable potential of this highly carbon-sequestering plant as a renewable resource for the building and creative industries seeking to reduce their environmental impact.
Featuring material samples, prototypes and products by Margent Farm, the exhibition examined how this ancient crop could support applications across different industries – from construction and interiors to cosmetics – while contributing to healthier, lower-impact environments.
Through materials, objects and cross-industry applications, Why Hemp Matters invited visitors to reconsider the resources from which our buildings, interiors and everyday objects are made.