SCOBY SANCTUM EST explores the Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) as a living, kinetic material system that challenges standardized materiality. By engaging SCOBY as both medium and agent, this project investigates its growth dynamics, material constraints, and speculative potential in architecture and design.
Through iterative experimentation, the project examines SCOBY’s responsive nature, its ability to adapt to humidity, temperature, and nutrients, positioning it as a material that disrupts static definitions of the built environment. From exploring SCOBY’s textures and behaviors, to investigating its biological [in]stability and manipulability, we aimed to prototype hybrid applications combining SCOBY with other materials (woods and textiles) and possibilities for bio-kinetic structures and architectural interventions.
By questioning what happens when materials grow, adapt, or decay in real-time, SCOBY SANCTUM EST contributes to broader discussions on material agency, sustainability, and techno-biological entanglements, offering a way to building a design practice through embodied encounters.

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