Greenhousing Saprophytes, investigates the tension between using living organisms for human purposes and recognizing their own, non-human perspectives. Exploring microbial relationships and their ethical dimensions, the project envisions a design practice that both employs and respects the agency of micro-organisms.

By working with Pure Mycelium Material — cultivated, harvested, and reintroduced to its original habitat — I examined how human design and fungal life can enter into a more reciprocal relationship. The heart of the project was a laboratory setup inside a greenhouse, where varying degrees of control were tested. Within this environment, I developed a three-dimensional growth of Pure Mycelium — a process in which objects are grown directly into their final shape.

This method was used to create two types of hats are exemplary for the ways future bio-design practices could look like.

Figu is a crawling shoe, that is grown in one piece of pure mycelium. As it is designed after the cradle-to-cradle method it is entirely biodegradable.

Mycelium is the nourishing part of a fungus. In the course of a material study, the growth and processing methods of pure mycelium were investigated in order to create biopolymer with leather-like characteristics. The findings of this material study led to new processing methods for mycelium materials. Consequently the material grows into three-dimensional space, during a process similar to injection molding.

This new processing method was transfered to the shoe production, in order to create the crawling shoe figu. By growing directly into the shape of the shoe, production waste is prevented and at the same time processing steps such as cutting and sewing components are saved.Beyond its application as a crawling shoe, figu makes an impact for an imperative rethinking of shoe production.

Humanity has been using clay since prehistoric times. The processing techniques for the material thereby improved continuously. Especially burned clay is ubiquitous and can be found in any home. Whilst clay is often considered to be a natural material, its production comes with a high energetic expense, in order to become ceramic, it has to be burned in temperatures above 700 °C for several hours, mostly for several days. Hereby also its chemicals structure is changed irreversibly.

During my research I looked into methods on how to unburn clay. Whilst reducing the energetic impact of the production system, my goal was to make the clay recyclable without changing its chemical structures.

The cup shown here is one of a series of three vessels that are influenced by archeological findings on methods that have been used by humans millennia ago. The usage of beeswax as a coating to seal the clay thereby derived from prehistoric methods.

The B75 is a bench made of aluminium and upcycled tarpaulin. It can be assembled and disassembled repeatedly in less than 10 minutes, taking as little space as possible. Packed together, it fits into a box that measures 50x40x20 cm, weighing less than 5 kg. This enables the possiblity  for the product to be delivered from the company to the customer for less 5,99 € (in Germany, 2021).

The design of the B75 consists of an aluminium frame that is stacked together, the tarpaulin is wrapped around it, being held in place by tension belts. These add the stability to the construction, forming the seat by tightening the tarpaulin. As the bench is held together by tension, the construction doesn‘t require any screws.

For the design part I teamed up with my fellow student Ophelia Fischer.