Self-patterned Mycelium Rubber and Mycelium Lace

'From Earth: Mycelium Textiles' is an experimental collection of materials and artefacts that explores the potential of mycelium growth as a new sustainable surface treatment for textiles. The aims of this design-led material research are:
(i)to achieve to produce both soft and structural textile qualities by experimenting with the environment of growth of the mycelium
(ii) to develop new biodegradable, compostable coatings for textiles that can replace curent oil-based finishing processes.

Two original and unique samples are showcased as part of the design research exhibtion '+ Ultra Knowledge and Gestaltung' at the Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum in Berlin:

1. a self-patterned mycelium rubber: This sample is as flexible as rubber and exhibits floral patterns which are not the result of a moulding technique, but the evidence of a self-organised pattern behaviour which developed as the mycelium colonised a waste coffee based substrate during its growth.

2. a mycelium lace, where the growth of the mycelium serves as a means to reinforce and mend the lace on which it has grown.

• http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/aktu...
• https://www.interdisciplinary-laboratory...