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They Grow Without Us

They grow without us is a temporary public furniture installation grown from mushrooms. The project builds upon transdisciplinary research at the intersection of material science, mycology, and sustainable building technology. To fabricate the furniture, damp sawdust was sterilized and inoculated with a blend of Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom spores and nutrients and poured into aerated hexagonal molds. While in the mold, the fungus produces mycelium, a cross-linked matrix of polysaccharides in the pore spaces between sawdust particles. The process produces solid mycelium bio-composites objects that can be removed from the mould as little as five days. The white coating at the exterior is a hydrophobic material called chitin produced naturally by the mushrooms.