Mushroom Artist Grows Furniture out of Fungus

Philip Ross is an artist who works in fungus. As a result of his studies and experiments, he's been table to grow large fungi into useful objects. He's even turned fungi into durable bricks that can be used for construction. Ross proposes that we look at fungi as a renewable source of materials for everyday life.

To demonstrate this, Ross has been building functional pieces of furniture using fungi. The magazine Make reports:

Mushrooms, Ross says, are a “self-extinguishing organic material” that can be used to create habitats for humans on Earth or even in space. He is currently working on a prototype, envisioning a demonstration building on the San Francisco waterfront to show how mushrooms can be used as building materials.

“When we’re done with it, we can just push [the building] into the bay,” Ross says. “Mushrooms change the politics and aesthetics of pollution.”

Mushroom Artist Grows Furniture out of Fungus