King oyster mushroom / Eryngii Mycelium chair on display in Dutch Design Week Studio Eric Klarenbeek presents a mycelium chair (mushroom chair) in Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. The mycelium chair came about in collaboration with CNC Exotic Mushrooms. The designers printed the chair in 3D, working with scientists from the Mushrooms research group at Wageningen UR. The chair consists mainly of straw with a thin covering of bioplastic. The chair will be on display in Eindhoven from 19 to 27 October. Location: Klokgebouw, Hall 2, Klokgebouw 50.In children’s storybooks, mushrooms often make great furniture for tiny creatures like fairies, gnomes, and toads (hence "toadstools"). In real-world design advances, the meeting of fungi and furniture is a, uh, fast-growing trend. It was only a matter of time before the mushrooms met the other Great Promise of Future Products, 3-D printing. Dutch designer Erik Klarenbeek has 3-D printed an incredible sculptural chair from a mixture of straw, water, and mycelium, a threadlike network of fungus that lives underground.
Klarenbeek tells Co.Design, "We were experimenting in our studio for some time with 3-D printers, and I asked this team of scientists at the University of Wageningen, 'We'd like to 3-D print living plant cells, can you help us out?'" Klarenbeek and his team connected with the Mushroom Research Group of Plant Breeding at the university, and were immediately bewitched by the plant's power. "The longer we work with it, the more fascinated and inspired we are by the potential of mycelium," says Klarenbeek. Together, the designers and scientists experimented with breeding printed material with mycelium, a threadlike fungal network that lives underground. "Our team started making pastes and mixtures out of water and compostable materials, such as straw—materials that we could 3-D print, and that mycelium likes to grow on." They fed this durable new concoction into a 3-D printer and printed segments of the chair separately. Once it was fused together, the strong but lightweight seat was encased in a layer of bioplastic.
As a decorative design element, Klarenbeek allowed lovely yellow oyster mushrooms to sprout from the chair's branch-like legs and back. Over a year in the making, the complete version is on display at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. Now obsessed with the wonders of mycology, Klarenbeek muses, "Wouldn't it be great to 3-D print a house! Mycelium’s properties include insulating capabilities and strength. This robot would build its complete interior and exterior structure, working together in symbiosis with the living organism. Instead of polluting its surroundings, such a house would fertilize them." Maybe, in a more sustainable future, we'll all be pulling up a toadstool at the dining room table, as designers continue to blur the line between house and garden in intriguing ways. Never miss a story. I'd also like to receive special Fast Company offersevery year, during dutch design week, the dutch design awards take place, showcasing a platform containing the full spectrum of what the country’s creative minds are accomplishing.
the winner of the product category has been designer christien meindertsma, who won the future award with her FLAX chair— impressing the jury on all fronts. the biodegradable chair combines the natural fibers of wool and flax with strong bio-plastic fibers, resulting in a material that can be heat-pressed into unbelievable shapes. video courtesy of vpro(main image) photo by nick bookelaar christien meindertsma has been conducting research into the potentials of flax as a material for many years — she even bought a flax farm to gain understanding of how the material can be cultivated and processed. the FLAX chair was designed for label breed and developed in close cooperation with enkev. it was made from one sheet of composite measuring around 2 feet by 3 feet, resulting in very little waste. the initial run will use straw-colored natural flax, but the material itself can be dyed, so many options can be available. photo by studio aandacht ‘this project is clearly about more than just another chair: it is the result of long-term research into the material qualities of flax, a desire to reinstate the value of a largely underrated fibre (the short flax fibre), and seeking to connect with dutch companies to launch a new product on the market,’ comments the jury.