ZAM - Fungarium Living Laboratory
FUNGARIUM × ZAM — Living Laboratory
Erlangen, Germany · Open to everywhere and everyone
An open laboratory in Erlangen, Germany, for experimenting with fungi, mycelium materials, living systems and their surrounding ecosystems.
We grow. We measure. We build. We share.
Where fungi and semiconductors touch and talk. Where learning is a path of patience and discipline."
Read the lab stories · Join in · Visits · Contact
A place to grow ideas together
Come with a question, a skill, a sketchbook or simple curiosity. We want to explore fungi and the systems around them through shared experiments, art, making, observation and documentation.
The work is still taking shape. This wiki is our open notebook: what we try, what we learn, what remains uncertain and where another person can help.
- Ask a question.
- Make and try together.
- Collect and examine evidence (we try to help you with that).
- Share what happened.
Art and nature
You might want to measure a change in a culture, draw its shapes, photograph its development or make something with mycelium. We want space for artistic exploration and careful scientific work, with each clearly described on its own terms.
Look closely. Make something. Share what you see. Learn from each other.
From the lab
We have some stuff going on in the lab, and we are looking for people like Steve. Who like to spend time learning and coupling ideas and DOING things. Besides helping at the local Kitchen, he is developing some gadget for us.
| Story | What you will find | Status |
|---|---|---|
| A laboratory in the making | The room, materials and work still to document | In Progress |
| Building a work area in the tent | The tent and filter-panel assembly | Completed |
| Making monitors together | Electronics, displays and a shared workbench | Great time |
Areas to explore
These are areas of interest. Project and experiment records have not yet been linked here.
- Fungi and materials: growing, making and documenting materials with mycelium.
- Nature through art: drawing, photography and creative work with living forms.
- Questions and evidence: tools to observe, measure, organize and share what we learn.
- Soil and Fungi: Develop experiments and constant monitoring of soil with different fungi, learn their importance.
Join in
You don't need to be a mycologist to contribute. You might want to become one afterwards.
Art, biology, code, data, electronics, fabrication, photography, writing and teaching can all help. Beginners are welcome to start a conversation. JUST TALK TO US CHIEF!
| Participation mode | Meaning |
|---|---|
| IN_LAB | Join ZAM, learn and work at the laboratory in Erlangen |
| REMOTE | Contribute from elsewhere (git based) |
| HYBRID | Combine remote work with time in the lab |
Potential ways to help include captioning photographs, documenting a build, drawing a system diagram or reviewing code. These are invitations to discuss a task.
Each confirmed task should state its expected outcome, experience level, time commitment, participation mode, contact and safety or supervision needs. Contributions will be documented and credited with the contributor's permission.
Wanna Visit?
We are based in Erlangen, Germany. We are located at the ZENTRUM für AUSTAUSCH und MACHEN (ZAM).
People
Dr. Ruben Casillas and Maria del Pilar Schnake are helping get this initiative started and together with the team and voluntaries at ZAM it has been kept alive.
Contact
Send us an email at info@fungarium.de and let us know know your idea and how can this place and the ZAM initiative help you achieve it.
Likewise, contact the ZAM initiative to let us know.
Sources and revision
- 21 October 2026. Maintainer: Dr. Ruben Casillas