The material of the future

Types of fungus such as the oyster mushroom could be used to create a range of products

A 

Eben Bayer is the co-founder of Ecovative, a company in Albany, New York, that creates an unusual substance: mycelium. Mycelium is the thread-like part of a fungus that grows underground, but Bayer has found an innovative use for it – turning it into sustainable materials. Bayer originally began experimenting with mycelium after a project he did while attending business school to find a replacement for the adhesives used in the manufacture of his products. His business partner, Gavin McIntyre, applied for a patent to use mycelium as a substitute for their product. Now their best-selling mycelium product is used as packaging for fragile goods and buildings. In the last few years, they’ve also been developing mycelium materials with fashion potential.

B 

One designer who appreciates the qualities of mycelium is Maurizio Montalti. While studying at Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, he began to look for alternatives to materials such as plastic. This, he believed, would always be a waste of resources. Instead, he worked with a substance that would be truly sustainable. He thought that fungus was ideal, having a background in biology, he contacted Han Wösten, a professor at a university in the Netherlands. In the years since, they have developed a laboratory so that it can be used to make a range of products. The fungus they work with is the oyster mushroom (pleurotus ostreatus). The thread-like roots of the oyster mushrooms are safe both to eat and to make into organic materials, with straw products. Montalti and Wösten take the mass production of mycelium to take on a scale of everyday objects. The finished object is fired in an oven to stop further growth.

C 

Presently, Montalti and Wösten have created a permanent exhibition at MicroPia in Amsterdam, the world’s only museum dedicated to microbes. Called A Mycelium, the exhibition includes an array of everyday objects they’ve created, including chairs, tables, cups and bowls. It is lightweight and elegant vases which are capable of holding water for days. By allowing visitors to interact with each piece by picking them up, people will walk away with a better understanding of how fungus might be a material for the future. It’s the fact that the items are so light, however, that visitors say they didn’t expect.

D 

Montalti and Wösten are keen to point out the advantages of products made of mycelium. While the tiny threads of mycelium become totally waterproof. It is this quality that makes the mycelium-based materials so great. Montalti believes, as they won’t be limited to rigid forms in the development of alternatives to textiles, he says, ‘You could imagine making raincoats.’ Furthermore, mycelium products are not harmful and once they are disposed of, they will decompose naturally into the ecosystem.

E 

One issue Montalti and Wösten are currently dealing with is the longevity of their products. Due to the natural qualities of fungus, the objects won’t last forever, a problem that the pair are in the process of trying to resolve. As an example, Montalti points to some of his earliest creations from 2012, including a series of bowls. These initial objects have stayed in his studio, retained their firmness and remained solid. This is because they have been unaffected by humidity or temperature changes, but this still presents a challenge for the design of other kinds of product. Currently, the pair are trying to create a protective coating that would be applied to the surface of the objects near the end of production, in the hope that it could delay the process of decay. Another issue concerns the attitude of the general public. Montalti’s potential consumers. In his opinion, people became overly concerned with hygiene and germs in the home in the 20th century, and now associate fungus with dirt and infection. Many people still have negative ideas about fungus, and that’s the whole educational part of the project that we tackle, he says. Through education, he hopes to demonstrate the amazing potential of fungus, such as its strength, which can be just as tough as Polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene, which is used to make plastic bags.

F 

In addition to household products, Montalti and Wösten are also working on producing architectural materials, such as wall panels and insulation. They are aiming that, for all aspects of a construction project, mycelium could replace many of the traditional materials such as concrete and foam. One project involves going to remodel (youth centre), where they are replacing the walls with smaller pieces of fungus panels. This will allow visitors to experience fungus materials in their daily lives.