Patrick West MA Interior Architecture 2025

The Living Room: A study of post-anthropocentric restoration

What if repair could shift our idea of value from ownership to co-authorship? The Living Room explores this question by reimagining restoration as a shared process between human and nonhuman forces.

Initially rooted in research around antiques and the emotional attachment we form to worn objects, the project evolved into a material investigation of mycelium. Inspired by human regeneration and the philosophy of kintsugi, it explores how broken objects might be treated with the same dignity as living beings, honouring damage and wear and tear instead of hiding these marks or disposal.

The result is a series of interventions that attempt to ‘heal’ damaged objects using mycelium as a regenerative agent. The final installation comprises three key elements: a pair of chairs repaired with mycelium-grown limbs; a sealed hospital chamber in which a cracked bowl is nurtured back to life; and a hybrid display table referencing both surgical and museological design. The table links directly to Alfie’s Antiques Market on Marylebone’s Church Street, the site that inspired a renewed relationship with objects. Together, The Living Room’s elements create a space for rethinking restoration.

The work positions repair as a cross-species collaboration. By relinquishing full design control and allowing mycelium to co-author the process, the project shifts away from anthropocentric values of mastery and permanence. Instead, it embraces decay and interdependence, and proposes a new ethic of care for the things we live with.