Mycelium Chair by Eric Klarenbeek is 3D-printed with living fungus

Dutch Design Week 2013: designer Eric Klarenbeek has 3D-printed a chair using living fungus, which then grows inside the structure to give it strength (+ slideshow)

The chair is the result of a collaboration between Klarenbeek and scientists at the University of Wageningen to develop a new way of printing with living organisms. "Our main purpose  was to bring together the machine and nature to create a new material that could be used to make any product," Klarenbeek told Dezeen.

The result is a new material that, Klarenbeek believes, could be used to make almost anything in future. "It could be a table, a whole interior or even a house," he said. "We could build a house with it."

Presented at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven this weekend, the Mycelium Chair was printed using a mixture of water, powdered straw and mycelium, which is the thread-like part of a fungus that lives underground.

The mycelium grew within the structure, replacing the water and creating a solid but extremely lightweight material. Mushrooms began sprouting on the surface, at which point Klarenbeek dried out the structure to prevent further growth.

"When you dry it out you have the straw kind of glued together by the mushroom," Klarenbeek said. "You have this strong, solid material that is really lightweight and durable."

A thin layer of printed bioplastic covers the structure of the chair to contain the growing fungus. Straw was used as a substrate since the fungus used in the project - the yellow oyster mushroom - likes to grow on straw.

"The mushrooms are only a decorative element," said Klarenbeek. That's why we shot the photograph with the mushrooms popping out. Our main purpose was to bring together the machine and nature to create a new material that could be used to make any product.

"This chair is really a metaphor for what could be made with this technique of 3D printing a living organism and then have it grow further. It could be a table, a whole interior or even a house. We could build a house with it."

Here's some text from Klarenbeek:

Studio Eric Klarenbeek most recent project is the Mycelium Chair, a chair in which 3D printing and growing material are combined. 

Designer Eric Klarenbeek interest is combining materials in unexpected ways. Klarenbeek is exploring ways of making 3D prints of living organisms, such as mycelium, the threadlike network in fungi.

He uses experimental raw materials for printing material: organic substrate for mushroom growing and bioplastics. Working with scientists, Klarenbeek has printed a chair from straw, with a thin coating of bioplastic.

Once it is mature it should be strong enough to support a person. The chair is a metaphor for what can be achieved with materials and production methods.

Thanks to: CNC Exotic Mushrooms, Wageningen UR ⋅ Plant Breeding ⋅ Mushroom Research Group, Beelden op de Berg