About
Contact
CV
M001 → Myco-composites
When Mycelium is inoculated with other materials it feeds on them to grow. It does so through enzymatic action, recycling nitrogen by converting non-digestible forms of N into digestible ones, for plants, bacteria, and other forms of life within the ecosystem.
Mycelium acts as a GLUE.
Depending on the substrate, the material properties and aesthetics will vary greatly.
Mycelium Bricks
White: Pl. Osteratus
Brown: Lentinula edodes
Originally these blocks were used for mushroom cultivation and picking at Mycotopia. After various blooms, the blocks were placed in specific environmental conditions which made the mycelium grow stronger and mushroom sprouting to hinder, making the composites stronger and a viable building material, without changing the form or composition of the block.
Workshop - Tiny things
Mycelium Material Workshop + Mycology 101 + Urban Farm Visit at Mycotopia
December 2024
Class notes: The class was hands-on. To start we walked through the different incubation rooms needed for mushrooms to spout and then concentrated in the lab. There, we saw the cycle through mediums (agar -> liquid -> grain) mycelium has to go through to reach the mushroom/sprouting stage. To finish, we got our hands dirty, using an old substrate block of Oyster mushroom and wet clay to make molds. I didn’t want to use plastic molds as it’s unsustainable and restricting. Clay can be wet again and used to make new molds once the mycelium composite is ready for harvest. It gives our hands more freedom and makes the harvesting process easier as we can break the molds guilt-free.
Homogeneous outer skin
Mycotopia’s spent mushroom substrate of Pl. Osteratus.
A big goal with mycelium material composites is creating a uniform layer of mycelium skin above the substrate. This not only makes the material more aesthetically pleasing and gives it a smooth surface to work from if printing or coloring, but most importantly, makes the material more resistant to water. The chitin layer created above blocks water from infiltrating the substrate.
Speculative Shoe Sole:
Tri material substrate made from Jeans (an unrecyclable blend of synthetic and cotton fibers), spent coffee extract and coconut husk fibers.