Pattern formation due the presence of additive dichotomous fluctuations is studied an extended system with diffusive coupling and a bistable FitzHugh–Nagumo kinetics. The fluctuations vary in space and/or time being noise or disorder, respectively. Without perturbations the dynamics does not support pattern formation. With proper dichotomous fluctuations, however, the homogeneous steady state is destabilized either via a Turing instability or the fluctuations create spatial nuclei of an inhomogeneous states.