Mycelium-Inspired Engineered Living Materials

Phil Ayres and Collaborators Present Fungateria

At the Royal Danish Academy's ‘Imagining Futures through Architecture and Design’ exhibition, Phil Ayres and his collaborators presented Fungateria — a project that explored the use of mycelium to create engineered living materials that remain biologically active after being transformed into products.

Mycelium is the root-like structure of fungi. Phil Ayres’ project seeks to embed the radical functionalities of this organic matter— including its abilities of self-regeneration, self-healing, and environmental adaptation — into the design of products. Fungateria ultimately shifts the focus away from a human-first design process toward one that attends to the material's own needs for healthy living conditions. This challenges the assumption that products should be as inert and low-maintenance as possible, instead suggesting that a healthy relationship between user and object might involve tending to the material. Hence, the classification of the innovation as engineered living materials is appropriate here.

Phil Ayres’ Fungateria research and prototypes will likely be of interest to a plethora of industries.

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