The pavilion grown from the mushroom mycelium
Just after Dutch Design Week, the Growing Pavilion was presented, a pavilion made up of panels grown from the mixture of mushrooms supported by a wooden structure..
Born from the collaboration between Pascal Leboucq, designer and set designer and Krown Design, a studio that combines sustainability and design together, this fascinating structure is entirely composed of biodegradable materials.
The panels, once covered by the growth process from the mycelium, were protected with a layer of a biological substance that was already used by the Incas in Mexico to protect their structures.
The panels allow to be removed from the wooden structure and then reused later. The floor of the internal environment is composed of “tifa”, a type of reed, while the seats that complete the space are made from agricultural waste materials.
The main purpose of the designers was to make the use of materials of biological origin protagonist, very often present but not exalted from the aesthetic point of view or not known enough.
The use of the mycelium allows the creation of extremely organic and light, but not for this reason little controllable forms, its application to the world of design is simple and effective, especially in the field of furniture.
The pavilion is currently still in a prototyping phase, but the clear objective of its creators is to develop structures that are able to withstand the outside for years without deteriorating.
The performance of the panels is satisfactory both from the point of view of thermal and acoustic insulation and made waterproof by the protective layer applied subsequently.
Other projects related to growth and sustainability were exhibited on the occasion of the installation of the pavilion, such as collections of clothes made from algae and kombucha, or benches arranged in the surrounding space, created by trees fallen during the storm that hit Eindhoven some month ago.
Photos courstesy of Eric Melander and Oscar Vinck