We have been working on the theme ”Rhizome” for a long time, and in July and August 2025 we had an amazing opportunity to spend two weeks deep diving to our thematic work and running a workshop introducing the ideas of rhizomatic thinking to other people in the EASA Shanzhai -event. These two weeks were made possible by the Culture Moves Europe grant and Goethe institute.

Our workshop included daily reading circles and discussions on the texts we read. The texts and discussions with the participants were really rewarding: we enjoyed especially reading texts that focused on the human/nature dichotomy and indigenous approaches to nature. For those interested, we created a reading list based on what we read during the two weeks:

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari – A Thousand Plateaus

Recommended chapter: Introduction: Rhizome

The post-structural philosophy behind the concept of ‘rhizomatic thinking’, the text is a little difficult, and not mandatory for understanding rhizome as a theme, easier and more accessible readings are listed below. Read if you are into philosophy.

Anna Tsing – Mushroom at the end of the world

Lots of great chapters to read! The way Tsing uses the matsutake mushroom to link together landscape, capitalism and commodity chains is very interesting. Also concepts of diversity, contamination, scale and assembly are well explored here.

Yasmine Ostendorf – Let’s become fungal

Chapters: Teaching one – How to become fungal (pages 14-39) AND Teaching seven: How to escape categorization (Pages: 168-182)
Easy read with concrete examples on how we can learn from fungi. Includes ideas from indigenous artist, curators, feminist and mycologist.

Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley – Are we human?

Chapters: 1, 4 and 14

Thought-provoking take on what it is to be a human. Has design taken us and our bodies beyond humanism, or is it the very thing that separates us from everything else?

Lucia Pietroiusti (ed.) – Microhabitable: 

Chapter: Un-commoning nature: Stories from the Anthropo-Not-Seen, Marisol De La Cadena

A story about indigenous woman refusing to sell their land. Interesting analysis on human/nature relationship and our right to nature. Key words: Resistance, landownership, belonging. 

Emanuele Coccia – The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture

A beautiful book about how plants shape our world, their necessity for human and other life on earth and it’s philosophical implications. Quite a short read, start from the beginning and see how long you wanna go.

Clara Oloriz Sanjuan – Landscape as a territory

Chapter 7 Making maps: Cartography, Territory, Modernity (p. 92-102)
Chapter 11 Going to Ground: Agency, Design and the Problem with Bruno Latour (p. 150-158)

Rather academic text but very insightful. The text explains clearly the problematics of cartography and presents alternative mapping for reclaiming representation. Chapter 11 discusses networks and embedded power relations between different agencies. 

Donna Haraway – Staying with the trouble

Chapter: Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene

key concepts: Anthropocene, sympoiesis, making-with 

Robin Wall Kimmerer – Braiding Sweetgrass

Cozy read with beautiful language. Indigenous knowledge merging with scientific frames.

Lea Zeitoun, from Glastonbury to the Venice biennale: exploring mycelium’s architectural potential

Text can be found here.

Elise Vanden Elsacker, Mycelium matters – an interdisciplinary exploration of the fabrication and properties of mycelium based material

Veeeery throughout PhD thesis fungi based lignocellulosic composites and their architectural possibilities. Includes practical guide on how to grow fungi to replace fossil fuel-based building material.

Paul Stamets, Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms can help save the world

Variety of perspectives on how to utilize the fungi.

Merlin Sheldrake – Entangled life

Mind-altering study of the world of fungi: everything from how mushrooms shape our forests to how they can shape our minds. If mushrooms aren’t that familiar a topic to you very recommended. Nice to read before bed.

The texts on the reading list are recommended especially to anyone hoping to run a workshop themselves in next year’s EASA Rhizome event.

We also gave a lecture on rhizomatic thinking and two smallers presentations to the participants of the EASA Shanzhai event. We hope we managed to make Deleuze and Guattari’s work and the connections of architecture and ecology more understandable to as many people as possible…

We will be introducing rhizomatic thinking to even more people in October, when we will be organizing an event in Helsinki 1.-6.10. Read more about the Regenerative futures -event here!

This workshop was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.

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