Imagine a home with chairs, tables, desks and cabinets manufactured from biofabricated components. Yes it’s true, New York biomaterial company – Ecovative, has made a breakthrough research in biofabrication of mycelium-based material . They have turned their vision into reality by launching a new line of first-of-its-kind mushroom-based furniture. Ecovative’s maiden line includes a Stack Stool and King’s table.
They used mycelium, a thread-like tissue that makes up mushroom to create the Stack stool’s legs, seat, upholstery, cushioning and even the packaging to protect the furniture during its travel. With slight tweak in the temperature or carbon dioxide levels, mycelium can be changed into different shapes – tough enough to support a full grown human’s weight.
Mycelium latches onto different substance to help mushrooms grow and form colonies. These colonies can be coaxed into shapes by binding woodchips together around the colonies as they grow. Once the mycelium runs out of nutrition, which it was getting from the woodchips, they die out and harden, ready to be manipulated into any shape. Mycelium can also be compressed into boards by applying heat and pressure, furthermore it can also be transformed into soft foam-like material.
The King’s tabletop marble-esque is also customizable, and it’s made by using bacteria that forms calcium carbonate around grains of sand, exactly how sea shells and coral reefs are formed. This process is developed by Ginger Krieg Dosier, CEO of bioMASON.
Biofabricated products are healthy to use and easy to compose at the end of their lifecycle. They are beautiful and can be used in offices and home. Enthusiasts are gearing up and constantly searching possibilities about what else micro-organisms can do for our betterment.
Hopefully in the coming future we as consumers will get to see more of such bio-fabricated products, once they become a part of our everyday life.
You still have a chance to make these available furniture your companion as the Stack Stool comes with a price tag of $249 and King’s table for $699.
Via: Popsci
