May 19, 2025

Nafeesa Choudhury

11th Grade

The Young Women's Leadership School of Queens 

Imagine a world where the construction of our buildings does not contribute to over 39% of global carbon emissions, but instead is made from a material growing right beneath our feet: mycelium! Mycelium is part of a fungal organism – the same fungal organism that produces mushrooms as its fruit.  Whereas mushrooms are exposed above the surface, noticed by almost everyone, mycelium is hidden beneath the soil. It’s considered the vegetative part of a fungus,  and it has a network of thread-like structures called hyphae. Besides transporting nutrients and water and helping with decomposition, mycelium is excellent at sequestering carbon.  Nonetheless, something once hidden deep underground might no longer be disregarded by the general public, as architects and scientists are putting it to use, by creating various kinds of buildings and structures!

What’s the process of using mycelium to create structures? The process starts with growing mycelium, which is grown in a controlled environment, or in many cases, a substrate is injected with fungal spores. The hyphae develop, extend, and bind with each other. After this occurs, it is put into a mold or frame to take a shape as it grows. Once it's appropriately filled into the mold, it is completely dried to prevent further growth and make the material more long-lasting. Then this material can be shaped into any complex form, such as bricks. However, the concept of who first discovered this idea of using mycelium to create structures isn’t credited to a particular individual, as it was through the different developments and contributions of many. However, it is said that the earliest findings of mycelium-based materials were by the experimentations of Phill Ross in the 1980s, who was a Stanford Graduate, and in the early 2000s by Gavin MacIntyre and Eben Bayer. Gavin MacIntyre and Eben Bayer formed a company called Ecovative, where they would come up with different ways to create products that were mycelium-based and would patent them. 

There are many advantages of using mycelium that will make it more attractive to apply in the future than traditional materials because, as a material, it's renewable. Since it feeds on waste products, it can help reduce garbage accumulation. They can decompose quickly, and unlike traditional building materials, mycelium-based materials don’t leave any pollutants or harmful particles behind. It has excellent efficiency, low cost,  and simplifies the process as mycelium-based products are kept near each other, they naturally bond on their own.  Also, bricks made of mycelium have a durability of around 20 years. Despite the advantages, there are a few disadvantages to using mycelium as a construction material. Mycelium-based materials have low water resistance, making mycelium bricks more vulnerable to issues such as mold growth and humidity as they age.

Structures made of mycelium can be seen worldwide,  as more and more architects are picking up the potential of mycelium. “Hy-Fi Pavilion”, found in New York, created by The Living,  was built in 2014, at MoMA PS1, the structure is made from corn stalks and mycelium. It consists of three cylinders, where the base is made from organic bricks and the top is made of a unique 3M film that reflects.  This structure pioneered construction as it used biomaterials and showed how biological technologies have a lot of potential in architecture. Another structure in Kerala, India, called “The Shell mycelium pavilion”,  was a project by BEETLES 3.3 and Yassin Areddia in 2017. It consists of a triangular framework, and the materials used were mycelium covered with coir pith, fiber from coconut husks. In Milan, Italy, there is the “Mycelium circular garden” by Carlo Ratti and Eni for Milan Design Week in 2019. The structure arches, 60, 4 meters high, mycelium brick arches are placed all over a botanical garden.  Finally, in the Netherlands, a project by Biobased Creations created the “Growing Pavilion” in 2019 for Dutch Design Week, to display the beauty of using biobased and renewable materials; the materials used were mycelium, wood, hemp, cattail, and cotton. 

As architects and scientists discover new possibilities, mycelium may be more significant in shaping and inspiring structures to a more environmentally healthy future. It opens up a new field for combining nature and design to create breathtakingly beautiful structures that display a profound message, help keep our planet healthy, and encourage others to do the same. Even though the mycelium-based structures are imperfect as they have certain drawbacks, they represent how many more developments need to be created. Further initiatives must be taken with this extraordinary approach to a more sustainable future.