INTRODUCTION

Sustainable design, or more specifically the rise of design focused around creating products with a lower impact on our environment is a (much needed) global trend (Ceschin, F., & Gaziulusoy, I, 2016). One of the ways in which designers are tackling this issue is by blurring the lines of science and design and taking on the role of the “active maker” of their raw materials rather than just the “passive recipient” of them. (Karana, et al, 2018). Some of the ways that designers are becoming “active makers” is with bio plastics made from food waste (Hitti, 2019) bacteria (Hitti, 2019) and algae (Morby, 2016). Unfortunately, while these projects are steps in the right direction, many of them are still in the early stages of development and are, at this stage, not scalable due to limited applications and the difficulty of processing the raw materials. (Kalia, et al 2011)

Therefore, in this report I will be focusing on the more specific field of mycelium based growing design. Although this method of bio fabrication is relatively new, as seen in the cases discussed below the field has a lot of exciting potential. What excites me in particular is the ability of this method of bio fabrication to incorporate readily available waste material from essential non-fossil-based sources such as the food industry and the building industry. Due to the simple methods of manufacturing using the medium, production is easily scalable. Additionally, products created with mycelium based growing design are also compostable; offering the potential for a readily available material that will not pollute our planet.

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Figure 3. Mycelium RH. Reprinted from Wikimedia Commons, by R. Hille, 2011, Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mycelium_RH_(3).jpg CC BY-SA 3.0

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Figure 4. Flowering Oyster Mushroom. Reprinted from Creative Commons, by N. Woods, 2007, Retrieved from https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/85564e29-7377-4fc8- b900-18cb544c79ef CC BY-SA 2.0

Mycelium

Mycelium, described by Paul Stamets (2005) as “the earth’s natural internet”, is the underground main body of Fungi and makes up the root system of the flowering bodies that we see and recognise as mushrooms. Figure 5 shows an example of the thin web-like structures of Mycelium as it grows underground (Hille, 2011) and Figure 4 shows the flowing mushroom, in this case the Oyster Mushroom (Wood, 2007). In a report of the state of the world’s fungi by Kew Royal Botanical Gardens; mycelium is described as a “multicellular body comprising an interconnected network… of minute, protoplasm-filled tubes called hyphae. The individual threadlike tubes extend at their tips and form branches that explore their environment, fight with other fungi to occupy territory, or interact with other organisms.” (Willis, K. J, 2018) Mycelial networks exist beneath almost all our landscapes. As well as creating the rich humus, which gives soil its nutrients, mycelial bodies hold soil together, and can hold up to 30 000 times their own mass in soil. (TED, 2008)

An integral part of mycelium based composites are the substrates. A substrate is defined as “a substance or surface that an organism grows and lives on and is supported by”. (Cambridge Dictionary, 2019) In this case a substrate is any material which the mycelium feeds from and grows on. In the same way that mycelium feeds on a substrate of decomposing debris in a forest and holds together soils, it has the ability to feed off and bind together a substrate of waste material to create a new form. To make a mycelium composite material mycelium and a substrate are placed into a mould and then mycelium consumes and grows around substrate into the form of the mould. Once the form has grown and filled out the mould, it is then dried to sterilise and stabilise the structure. The flowering mushrooms in figure 6 illustrate what will happen if the mycelium is left to grow.

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Figure 5. Hyphal Growth. Reprinted from Myceliumm, by Australian National Botanical Gardens, 2013, Retrieved from https://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/mycelium.html

Why Mycelium?

There are a couple of things that excite me about mycelium composites. It utilises waste materials from industries essential to our lives and livelihoods – food agriculture and housing, and it does not rely on, and therefore perpetuate our problematic dependence on fossil-based products (Fairs, M. 2018). Australia is currently suffering a recycling crisis. In 2018 China drastically reduced the amount of recycling it would import, restricting the contamination limit of 24 varieties of solid waste to only 0.5 per cent. Now that China is only taking a fraction of the recycling material it used to, much of Australia’s recycling is being stored in warehouses, and in some cases

it is being diverted to landfill. Even if our waste is recycled, it is often not cost effective compared to imported virgin material, and it still uses enormous amounts of resources, especially if shipped overseas (Environment and Communications References Committee, 2018). As a result, it is more important than ever to take responsibility for everything we put into the world, especially with its end of life in mind, and develop materials to that are biodegradable and compostable. As mycelium-based products are 100% compostable and will even add nutrients to the soil, (Ecovative Design, 2014), I think it is a field worth researching.

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Figure 6. 3D Printed Mycelium Chair. Reprinted from Mycelium Chair by Eric Klarenbeek is 3D-printed with living fungus, by Dezeen, 2013, Retrieved from https://www.dezeen. com/2013/10/20/mycelium-chair-by-eric-klarenbeek-is-3d-printed-with-living-fungus/ Figure 7. Mushroom cultivation. Reprinted from A Simplified Overview of Mushroom Cultivation Strategies, by Paul Stamets, 1996, Retrieved from https://fungi.com/blogs/articles/a-simplified-overview-of-mushroom-cultivation-strategies