A space for biodesigning at Aalto University
The bioMakerStudio is a DIY fabrication space, which acts as an incubator for exploring and engaging creatively with the process of biological growing, making, and designing.
We welcome creatives (researchers, students, makers, community) from any discipline who are working with (or would like to try) bio-themed projects.
Our intention is also to be as low-threshold, accessible, flexible and open as possible. We we encourage users to be explorative, scavenge stuff, make their own tools, and try more exploratory encounters that might be otherwise hard to do in a closed lab environment.
Our space develops according to demand, and grows together with the projects and our community.
NEWS
bioMakerStudio Workshop Series
The bioMakerStudio Workshop and Talks Series is a non-profit community engagement initiative funded by the Sustainability Action Booster Grant… [read more]
Where to find us
Otakaari 7, 02150 Espoo, Finland
OUR APPROACH
At the bioMakerStudio, we run on a makerspace philosophy, which includes:
Learning-by-making
You learn through hands-on experiments, and by actively making and growing something. DIY (Do-it-yourself) and DIWO (Do-it-with-others) with communities.
Finding creative workarounds
This is not a scientific lab – meaning that for certain processes, you will have to find creative workarounds. Can you find replacements for tools in everyday objects, for example?
Combine fabrication techniques and fields
How can you combine different fabrication and making techniques? Biofabrication, digital fabrication, crafts, textiles… How can you combine knowledge from different disciplines?
Sharing and lowering barriers to knowledge
With the open-access mindset, you’ll share your processes and results with others, and also learn from others. How can you share your knowledge in ways that can be accessed by more people?
SPACES & EQUIPMENT
bioMakerStudio
Our current inventory includes:
• Workbenches
• Digital incubator
• 3D clay printer (for biomaterials)
• Mini laminar flow hood
• Autoclave
• Transparent growtent
• Darkroom growtent
• Digital microscope (AF)
• Stereo microscope
• Fridge + freezer
• Kettle
• Shelves
• UV light
• Heating pads
• Heating plates
• Humidity gauge
• Vacuum former
• Dehydrator
• Drying fan
• Scales
• Kitchen utensils (stick blender, containers, pots, steamers etc.)
• Lab consumables (petri dishes, test tubes, cotton cloths, pH paper, etc.)
• Kitchen consumables (baking sheets, aluminium foils, paper plates, etc.)
• Ingredients for growth mediums
• Large TV screen with HDMI
• Storage space
• First aid kit
Garden
8m2 community garden plot, currently growing:
• Woad (Isatis tinctoria)
• Japanese Indigo (Persicaria tinctoria)
• Dyer’s chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria)
• Dyer’s greenweed (Genista tinctoria)
• Weld (Ruseda luteola)
• Dyer’s coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)
We also have access to these facilities in the same building:
Dyeing Studio
A splash-proof kitchen-like space for wetwork with:
> Sinks
> Hobs
> Drying cabinet
> Kitchen utensils
For more, visit: https://studios.aalto.fi/product/dyeing-and-surface-manipulation/
FabLab
Digital fabrication laboratory for digital fabrication, with:
> Laser cutter
> CNC machine
> 3D printers
> Electronic workstations
> Programming software
For more info, visit: https://studios.aalto.fi/fablab/
WHAT CAN I WORK WITH?
We allow work with entry-level and food-safe organisms and materials in the bioMakerStudio. Currently, we are working with bacterial cellulose (SCOBY), cyanobacteria (spirulina), slime mould (physarum), mycelium (oyster and reishi), and plants (wild and grown).
Working with organisms that are highly perceptible to contamination would be very challenging in our space, as we cannot create completely aseptic conditions.
The bioMakerStudio is constantly changing. For most recent photos check out our Instagram account: @biomakerstudio
We`ve been growing grass at the BioMakerStudio for the last few weeks to experiment with root textiles 🌱💧
This is catgrass 🌱 grown in a 3D printed mould to form the root patterns. It`s sprayed several times every day with water to keep hydrated🚰
Thank you @cocoon.bio and @iaacbcn for your support with this!
#roottextile #root #sustainabletextiles #biodesign #biolab #biomakerstudio #catgrass #sustainabledesign #biofabrication #3dprint #fablab
We`ve been growing grass at the BioMakerStudio for the last few weeks to experiment with root textiles 🌱💧
This is catgrass 🌱 grown in a 3D printed mould to form the root patterns. It`s sprayed several times every day with water to keep hydrated🚰
Thank you @cocoon.bio and @iaacbcn for your support with this!
#roottextile #root #sustainabletextiles #biodesign #biolab #biomakerstudio #catgrass #sustainabledesign #biofabrication #3dprint #fablab
Bioreceptive Textiles Workshop 🧪
This workshop, organised by @edoardobrunellidesigner was packed with inspiration, learnings, and tinkering!
The afternoon began inspiring lectures by @biofilia_aalto
@polly_in_the_lab @areyouharveyshawaboutthat @ardalanrahimipour and @ena.knighto, who contributed with expert knowledge from their fields and research.
In the latter half, the participants chose an organism that they wanted to work with: algae, plants, mycelium, scoby, or slime mould – and investigated ways to combine them with textiles 🌿
Thank you to all the participants for joining!
#bioreceptivity #biodesign #workshop #biolab #biomakerstudio #sustainability #morethanhuman #textiles #algae #mycelium #scoby #slimemold #bioart
Bioreceptive Textiles Workshop 🧪
This workshop, organised by @edoardobrunellidesigner was packed with inspiration, learnings, and tinkering!
The afternoon began inspiring lectures by @biofilia_aalto
@polly_in_the_lab @areyouharveyshawaboutthat @ardalanrahimipour and @ena.knighto, who contributed with expert knowledge from their fields and research.
In the latter half, the participants chose an organism that they wanted to work with: algae, plants, mycelium, scoby, or slime mould – and investigated ways to combine them with textiles 🌿
Thank you to all the participants for joining!
#bioreceptivity #biodesign #workshop #biolab #biomakerstudio #sustainability #morethanhuman #textiles #algae #mycelium #scoby #slimemold #bioart
Biomaterials x Fashion at the BioMakerStudio✂️🧵
Check out this colourful range of biomaterial sheets made by @alba.arillo! The larger ones are dried and cut into garment patterns 🌷
#scoby #bacterialcellulose #fashion #fashiondesign #textile #sustainablefashion #sustainabletextiles #biolab #biomakerstudio #garment #biomaterial #biodesign
Biomaterials x Fashion at the BioMakerStudio✂️🧵
Check out this colourful range of biomaterial sheets made by @alba.arillo! The larger ones are dried and cut into garment patterns 🌷
#scoby #bacterialcellulose #fashion #fashiondesign #textile #sustainablefashion #sustainabletextiles #biolab #biomakerstudio #garment #biomaterial #biodesign
Bioreceptive Textiles WORKSHOP ALERT 📢
🗓 May 14, 2025
⏰ 14:00–18:00
📍 BioMakerStudio, Otakaari 7, Otaniemi
This hands-on workshop explores the intersection of textiles and living organisms, led by Edoardo Brunelli @edoardobrunellidesigner and Harvey Shaw @areyouharveyshawaboutthat 🌱
Participants will collaborate with mycelium, plants, slime mold, bacteria and yeast to create a collective Bioreceptive Tapestry.
Join Bioreceptive Textile workshop, fill out the form by May 9th:
https://forms.gle/wwTDHYCP38UFT2tB7
or send an email to: ext-edoardo.brunelli@aalto.fi
*No experience needed
*All materials, equipment, and living organisms provided
*Limited places
#workshop #biodesign #biomakerstudio #biolab #helsinki #textiles #bioreceptivity #sustainability #mycelium #slimemold #bacteria #yeast #tapestry #microalgae
Bioreceptive Textiles WORKSHOP ALERT 📢
🗓 May 14, 2025
⏰ 14:00–18:00
📍 BioMakerStudio, Otakaari 7, Otaniemi
This hands-on workshop explores the intersection of textiles and living organisms, led by Edoardo Brunelli @edoardobrunellidesigner and Harvey Shaw @areyouharveyshawaboutthat 🌱
Participants will collaborate with mycelium, plants, slime mold, bacteria and yeast to create a collective Bioreceptive Tapestry.
Join Bioreceptive Textile workshop, fill out the form by May 9th:
https://forms.gle/wwTDHYCP38UFT2tB7
or send an email to: ext-edoardo.brunelli@aalto.fi
*No experience needed
*All materials, equipment, and living organisms provided
*Limited places
#workshop #biodesign #biomakerstudio #biolab #helsinki #textiles #bioreceptivity #sustainability #mycelium #slimemold #bacteria #yeast #tapestry #microalgae
BioMakerStudio has travelled to Iceland 🇮🇸 with @cocoon.bio!
We hosted a mycelium workshop at @fablabrvk in Reykjavik 🍄
We started with a presentation on mycelium by Harvey @areyouharveyshawaboutthat, then moved onto the hands-on workshop where participants made their own moulds, and started with making a mycelium object using low-threshold techniques ✨
Thank you to all the participants for your enthusiastic participation!
#biodesign #biofabrication #biolab #biomakerstudio #cocoonbio #cocoon #aaltoarts #biostudio #workshop #mycelium #reykjavik #iceland #sustainabledesign
BioMakerStudio has travelled to Iceland 🇮🇸 with @cocoon.bio!
We hosted a mycelium workshop at @fablabrvk in Reykjavik 🍄
We started with a presentation on mycelium by Harvey @areyouharveyshawaboutthat, then moved onto the hands-on workshop where participants made their own moulds, and started with making a mycelium object using low-threshold techniques ✨
Thank you to all the participants for your enthusiastic participation!
#biodesign #biofabrication #biolab #biomakerstudio #cocoonbio #cocoon #aaltoarts #biostudio #workshop #mycelium #reykjavik #iceland #sustainabledesign
An interactive installation with the spirulina culture! 🧪
Check out this work by Ana Todosijević @_ana_todosijevic, who is exploring communication pathways between humans and cyanobacteria.
"Distant Kin is an interactive installation that investigates communication pathways between distant groups of organisms, specifically humans and cyanobacteria, through light and sound effects. As a visitor steps into a spotlight, their presence activates light that initiates Spirulina’s photosynthesis. The spotlight is controlled by the oxygen level — once Spirulina produces enough, the light moves to a new spot, choreographing the
visitor’s movement. Using oxygen as a control signal, the algae sets the rhythm of interaction, turning human behavior into part of a nonhuman-led performance."
#biomakerstudio #biodesign #aalto #aaltouniversity #bioart #installation #interactive #interactiveinstallation #spirulina #cyanobacteria #exhibition
An interactive installation with the spirulina culture! 🧪
Check out this work by Ana Todosijević @_ana_todosijevic, who is exploring communication pathways between humans and cyanobacteria.
"Distant Kin is an interactive installation that investigates communication pathways between distant groups of organisms, specifically humans and cyanobacteria, through light and sound effects. As a visitor steps into a spotlight, their presence activates light that initiates Spirulina’s photosynthesis. The spotlight is controlled by the oxygen level — once Spirulina produces enough, the light moves to a new spot, choreographing the
visitor’s movement. Using oxygen as a control signal, the algae sets the rhythm of interaction, turning human behavior into part of a nonhuman-led performance."
#biomakerstudio #biodesign #aalto #aaltouniversity #bioart #installation #interactive #interactiveinstallation #spirulina #cyanobacteria #exhibition
Plant-Human Interaction workshop with Oscar Tomico from TU Eindhoven 🌱 at the BioMakerStudio!
This morning, we hosted a workshop run by Oscar Tomico, "Greening interior spaces through multi-species design", where participants explored Plant-Human interactions and bioreceptivity through textiles.
The workshop started with an introduction to Plant-Human interactions, then participants explored emerging forms, patterns, and aesthetics through hands-on roleplaying. At the end, everyone shared their reflections on taking a more-than-human perspective in the design process 🌿
Thank you @otomico for the workshop, and for all the participants for joining!
#biodesign #morethanhuman #textiles #bioreceptivity #workshop #sustainability #biomakerstudio #biolab #plant #humanplantinteraction
#interactiondesign #hci #interiordesign #tueindhoven
Plant-Human Interaction workshop with Oscar Tomico from TU Eindhoven 🌱 at the BioMakerStudio!
This morning, we hosted a workshop run by Oscar Tomico, "Greening interior spaces through multi-species design", where participants explored Plant-Human interactions and bioreceptivity through textiles.
The workshop started with an introduction to Plant-Human interactions, then participants explored emerging forms, patterns, and aesthetics through hands-on roleplaying. At the end, everyone shared their reflections on taking a more-than-human perspective in the design process 🌿
Thank you @otomico for the workshop, and for all the participants for joining!
#biodesign #morethanhuman #textiles #bioreceptivity #workshop #sustainability #biomakerstudio #biolab #plant #humanplantinteraction
#interactiondesign #hci #interiordesign #tueindhoven
📌 APPLICATIONS OPEN 📌
Are you an Aalto ARTS student?
We`re excited to offer BioMakerStudio (2ECTS), a one-week summer course in biodesign 🌻
The hands-on studio course explores living systems, design, and low-threshold methods to prototype adaptable structures that grow, respond, and/or heal their environments.
📅 9 – 13 June, 2025
📍 BioMakerStudio, Otakaari 7, Otaniemi
Application link and more information in bio 🌱
Participating partners @cocoon.bio
IAAC, Cofac, ISMAT, FabLab Reykjavik, Uni of Porto
#biodesign #aaltouniversity #sustainability #biomakerstudio #biolab #iaac #summercourse
@aaltoarts
📌 APPLICATIONS OPEN 📌
Are you an Aalto ARTS student?
We`re excited to offer BioMakerStudio (2ECTS), a one-week summer course in biodesign 🌻
The hands-on studio course explores living systems, design, and low-threshold methods to prototype adaptable structures that grow, respond, and/or heal their environments.
📅 9 – 13 June, 2025
📍 BioMakerStudio, Otakaari 7, Otaniemi
Application link and more information in bio 🌱
Participating partners @cocoon.bio
IAAC, Cofac, ISMAT, FabLab Reykjavik, Uni of Porto
#biodesign #aaltouniversity #sustainability #biomakerstudio #biolab #iaac #summercourse
@aaltoarts
CONTACT
If you are interested in using the bioMakerStudio or have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
We are always looking to expand our inventory of equipment and materials through recycled or second-hand goods. If you have any lab / makerspace equipment that you would like to donate, please let us know!
Interested in the bioMakerStudio? Contact
Ena Naito
Doctoral Researcher
ena.naito@aalto.fi
+358 50 464 4304
Co-funded by
