For SQIM, this presence is not merely exhibitive — it is strategically resonant. Oltreplastica is a space where the discourse on matter opens to new conceptual frameworks, and where Ephea affirms itself for what it is: a next-generation material that positions the living world as a technological infrastructure.
In the broader conversation around “post-plastic,” Ephea does not stand as a low-impact variant of familiar materials. Its identity is rooted in an altogether different paradigm: a biofabricated platform, cultivated through mycelium-based processes that transform biological growth into a scalable, controllable, and design-driven manufacturing logic.
This distinction is fundamental. Ephea does not conform to traditional notions of “biomaterial,” nor does it aspire to emulate leather or conventional plastics.
Its value lies in its ability to articulate an entirely new material vocabulary — one that merges the organic with the engineered, the natural with the technological, and that responds to industrial needs while remaining profoundly aligned with the metabolic cycles of the living realm.
At Oltreplastica, this vision finds a meaningful context. The exhibition presents a rethinking of material culture that is scientific, technological, and above all, conceptual. The very notion of going “beyond” the plastic imaginary mirrors the ethos that drives Ephea: moving past extractive logics, shifting from linear systems to metabolic ones, and embedding design directly into the process of material genesis.
The Mogu materials on display demonstrate how mycelium already generates robust, industrially viable architectural solutions — closing the loop between biology, design, and manufacturing.
Ephea represents the next step in this evolution: a platform conceived for advanced craft, fashion, and product design, with a potential that extends far beyond current categories.
To be part of Oltreplastica is, for Ephea , to reaffirm its role within a new material topology – not a surrogate, not a substitute – a distinct emerging category that broadens what can be conceived, produced, and experienced.
The exhibition underscores a decisive cultural shift: materials are no longer neutral carriers of performance, but infrastructures of meaning, responsibility, and future-making.
Ephea inhabits precisely this terrain — as a vision, as a technological frontier, and as a commitment to redefining our relationship with matter and the planet.
We are proud that this narrative finds resonance within the galleries of the ADI Design Museum, in conversation with designers, scientists, and companies who share a common ambition: to collectively shape what comes next.
