Plzeň is a city of rich industrial history. It is particularly known for the brewing, automobile, and weapons industries but also to a lesser extent Leather Tanneries. Situated along a confluence of 4 rivers, these have historically played key roles in Plzeň's productive needs.
The leather industry had a high consumption of water from the rivers but it polluted both the water and air. In Plzeň , it was exclusively run by Jewish residents as it was one of the few trades they were allowed to be involved in. The industry flourished in the 18th-early 20th century until the subsequent invasions of WW2. Traces of the industry are now scarce and only evident from derelict buildings and smokestacks.
This thesis takes in the Czech Republic’s industrial past and intertwines it with a future leather industry, which is made from mushrooms. The mirroring of the trade networks and fungal networks are brought to a site near a former tannery next to the River Mže. Fungi is cultivated and celebrated through both an echo of the city's history of brewery tunnels, where the mushrooms are grown, and a leather factory with drying towers that rise like spores, from cuts into the ground. The water resources are taken from the neighbouring river, and held in pools that cluster around a new visitor centre and landscaped park.
