Material Study_02

The mycelium material belongs to the category of self-growing materials. The mycelium is the root of a fungus (in this case oyster mushroom) that combines with organic materials such as straw and solidifies during the growth process.

Depending on the mass and shape, this growth process takes up to 7 days. The mushroom itself is actually considered a forward-looking material. It is environmentally friendly and requires hardly any resources to grow. It can also be produced very cheaply and has similar functions to Styrofoam. So it can be used as packaging, insulation or even as a tactile material in furniture construction.

The impetus for this type of material research came during the „Prototyping Nature“ symposium at FH Folkwang in 2015, where leading designers such as Antoni Gandia and Maurizio Montalti reported on the future viability of funghi as simple, fast-growing material.

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