Published on
04.09.2023
Beautiful decay
Work
What started as a wild idea — to grow a bar made from mushrooms — grew into an actual, eh, Mush Room at the HIX event in November 2022, themed ‘Great things will grow’. We are also very glad to share that the project was the final monthly winner on the FRAME awards in August.
The material used for this installation is mycelium, a material that actually grows. Mycelium is a web-like structure of fungi that can become a mushroom within the right conditions. When dried, the material can be used as a durable, water, mould and fire-resistant building material.
Based on our concept and design, we asked French artist Côme Di Meglio (represented by creative studio La Succulenta) to grow and assemble the mycelium bar. After the event, the bar was moved, brick by brick, to Wakehurst, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sussex.
Kew Gardens preserve the former mushroom bar's building blocks in open air. As a result, visitors can enjoy this phenomenon as it continues to evolve under natural circumstances. As an ambassador of flora and biodiversity, Kew Gardens are at the forefront of research on plants and fungi. This makes them an ideal partner to lean on in our search for quality and usability in natural, or even living, materials.
This slow experimentation is a fruitful source of inspiration for our interior design team. We continuously explore the aesthetics of new and natural materials, and are happy — and fascinated — to watch our work decay.
