Image by Carlina Teteris, Block Research Group
Thinking Space Nature
Better Living in the Mush-Room
A roof made of mushrooms instead of concrete slabs? Why not? The science for it is almost there. As one of the first load-bearing structures made of mycelium – the vegetative part of a fungus – and bamboo, the “MycoTree” caused a sensation in 2017.
Image by Carlina Teteris, Block Research Group
Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, 2017
The arms of the “MycoTree” are entwined like giant DNA strands, forming a roof that stretches over the heads of the artificial tree’s visitors. It’s hard to believe that the rough building blocks of this airy architecture consist of – mushrooms. Of their root system, to be precise.
The “MycoTree”, a construction of fungal mycelium and bamboo.
Image by Carlina Teteris, Block Research Group
Futurium Berlin, 2019
The exhibit “MycoTecture” at our House of Futures surprises visitors with its distinctive geometry, which is reminiscent of oversized chromosomes. In combination with bamboo, this special construction makes the rather soft, mycelium-based material potentially interesting for the building industry of the future.
“MycoTree” and “MycoTecture” were developed by scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Block Research Group at ETH Zurich. Like many other researchers, they are currently testing the use of recyclable building materials such as fungal mycelium or bamboo in architectural contexts. And the demand for renewable materials in the building industry is great.
Recyclable houses made of fungal cells
“Our vision for the future is to let houses grow, so to speak, and, once they have reached the end of their lives, to recycle their building materials.”
The reason for all this is that many resources are finite. Sand, for example, which plays an important role in the production of concrete. In addition, the use of reinforced concrete has made many countries dependent on imports. Renewable building materials such as fungal mycelium would be an alternative to traditionally used materials – and offer a chance to lessen the negative consequences of the Anthropocene. “Our vision for the future is to let houses grow, so to speak, and, once they have reached the end of their lives, to recycle their building materials,” says Professor Dirk E. Hebel, Chair of Sustainable Building and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at KIT.
Mycelium-based building materials have one great advantage: the fine and densely branched mushroom roots grow quickly. To produce the natural building blocks, the researchers from Karlsruhe and Zurich mix fungal tissue with wood chips or other plant waste. The mycelium cells digest this natural food, binding it like a living glue.
Lightweight building blocks with good insulating properties
On a farm in Indonesia, a dense, sponge-like substance of interwoven cell-threads grows within a few days. This mass can be poured into just about any mould, where it continues to thicken. To stop the growth and to kill the fungus, the cell mass is dried. Lightweight building blocks with good insulating properties are the result.
But could the new building materials actually be used in the load-bearing roof structures of future buildings? Yes, say the KIT scientists – if they’re combined with solid materials, such as bamboo, and their geometric shapes and the internal flux of forces are explicitly designed and organised with this in mind. This perfect shape is made possible by modern software. “Renewable building materials could therefore potentially replace the materials traditionally used in many architectural structures,” says Professor Hebel.
How did the MycoTree grow? Follow its growth process here: