Strongly characterised by a creative trans-disciplinary approach and rooted in a collaborative, research-based and experimental practice, Officina Corpuscoli‘s work explores and questions cultural stigmas as well as the design discipline itself, reflecting upon contemporary (material) culture, and thereby creating new opportunities, critical analyses and advanced visions for the (creative) industry and for the broader social spectrum.

Through its work, the studio actively engages in co-creative process, reaching thought-provoking design outcomes which span across various media, priorly investigating themes related to biotechnology, anthropology, bio-diversity, the ecosystem and the human impact on it, recent production technologies, and the importance of a symbiotic entanglement between human and non-human agents.

The fascination for the micro-scale, together with a holistic vision of the world as a thoroughly linked macro-organism, are some of the studio’s main focuses, allowing for investigating the interconnection between human and non-human agents, within the relational complexity of the dynamic ecosystem we all belong to.

Working at the junction of design and biotech, Officina Corpuscoli has been one of the early pioneers committed to studying and to developing mycelium-based technologies, for the design and production of natural biomaterials and products for multiple applications.

Within such context, the studio strives for revealing unorthodox relationships among existing paradigms. By distilling research and analysis and tangibly materialising relevant facts, Officina Corpuscoli creates projects and conditions that allow for resonant critical experiences, by the synthesis of ideas and of research, through design.

Founded in 2010 by Maurizio Montalti (OC Director) and based in Amsterdam, Officina Corpuscoli operates as a multidisciplinary studio, providing creative consultancy and (co-)developing both commissioned and self-initiated research projects, often inspired by and in collaboration with living systems and organisms, with a deep focus on fungi.

The studio’s work has been honoured with multiple awards, featured widely in the media and exhibited globally in highly prestigious musea, galleries and institutions – to mention few, beyond others, MoMA – New York, Centre Pompidou – Paris, Design Museum – London, Triennale – Milano, MAXXI – Roma, MAK – Wien, and many more.

Besides the many activities and projects at OC, Maurizio is also co-founder, chairman and director of Mogu (IT), an innovation-driven, environmentally-conscious, design company, dedicated to developing, designing, producing and commercialising different typologies of innovative biomaterials and products deriving from processes rooted in fungal fermentation, at industrial scale.

Finally, Maurizio is highly involved in education, as for instance having been Head and Mentor for the MAD Master (Materialisation in Art and Design) at Sandberg Instituut, Associate Researcher at Design Academy Eindhoven, and Artistic Director at dieDAS – Design Akademie Saaleck, and he teaches, lectures and provides mentorship as part of the programmes of different dutch and international academies and universities.