Mushroom cottage

Imagined What it could do

Imagine a cottage grown, not built: a living fungus shaped into walls, then dried so that it stops growing. When the cottage was no longer needed, it could be broken up and composted into soil.

Real world The hidden part of a mushroom

The mushroom we see is only the fruit of a fungus. Most of the fungus is underground: a huge network of fine white threads called mycelium. Mycelium grows through soil, wood and plant waste, binding it together like a natural glue.

Real world Growing bricks

Companies and researchers mix mycelium with farm waste such as corn stalks or sawdust and let it grow in molds for a few days. It fills the mold, then is heated to stop it growing. The result is light, insulating and compostable, and is already used for packaging instead of plastic foam.

In 2014, the architecture firm The Living built "Hy-Fi", a temporary tower of mycelium bricks, at the MoMA PS1 museum in New York. After the summer, the bricks were composted. Mycelium is not yet strong or water-resistant enough for most permanent buildings, so researchers are working on that.

Think about it

1. Should buildings be designed to delight people, not only to be useful?
2. What could you make from materials that grow?
3. Why might compostable materials help reduce waste?

Key words

Fungus

A living thing, like a mushroom or mold, that is neither plant nor animal.

Mycelium

The network of thread-like roots of a fungus.

Compostable

Able to break down naturally into soil.