MycoMygrow
Category: Furniture
Competitions: Home Competition 2026
MycoMygrow is a participatory, kit-based furniture system that explores how natural materials can redefine the future of furniture production. Developed and disseminated as a guided experience, the project enables users to grow, assemble and understand their own furniture through direct engagement with mycelium, the root structure of fungi. Rather than treating furniture as a finished commodity, users grow their own seat component from mycelium, before assembling a solid ash timber frame to create their functional MycoMygrow stool. Mycelium is a regenerative, biodegradable, natural material that grows by binding organic waste streams such as hemp hurds, coffee grounds, sawdust, forming lightweight yet durable composite structures. Robust and renewable, it offers an alternative to more resource-intensive materials commonly used within furniture manufacture. By transforming low-value organic waste into a functional furniture component, the project demonstrates how emerging bio-materials can contribute to more circular systems of production while reducing reliance on synthetic resources. Beyond material innovation, MycoMygrow seeks to strengthen the relationship between people and the objects they own. The growing process encourages users to engage directly with an unfamiliar natural material, creating a greater understanding of where products come from and the value of slower, more considered making. The project also functions as an educational tool, introducing users to the potential of mycelium and encouraging greater awareness of natural materials, circular design principles and sustainable production. Rather than simply assembling a product, users actively participate in growing part of their furniture, fostering a deeper appreciation of both the material and the processes involved in its creation. The project combines furniture, packaging, branding, mould design and instructional communication into a single experience, demonstrating how thoughtful design can make innovative materials more accessible to wider audiences. Rather than simply producing a stool, MycoMygrow proposes an alternative model for furniture production one in which materials are grown rather than manufactured, waste becomes a valuable resource and users become active participants in the making process. It aims to contribute to new standards for sustainable furniture by celebrating natural materials while encouraging more conscious relationships between people, products and the environment.
