METAFUNGI - Exploration

YEAR : 2019

TYPE : Personal Research I Speculative Design
ROLE : Concept Designer & Material Explorer
TECH : Mycomaterials, Topology Optimisation, Computational Design
OBJECTIVE : Envisioning furniture grown, not made.
IMPACT : Opened new design pathways blending digital tools with living systems
INSIGHT : Designing with the living requires shifting from control to collaboration
CREDITS : Inspired by Eric Klarenbeek & the Self-Assembly logic of nature

METAFUNGI is a scenographic installation imagining a future where furniture is not manufactured but grown.

Inspired by Eric Klarenbeek's iconic Mycelium Chair, I used it as a starting point.

I designed a stool of my own, grown from mycomaterials and shaped using topology optimisation.

This computational design process simulates how forces travel through a structure, allowing material to be removed where it isn’t needed.

The result: forms that are both organic, efficient and lightweight and

Through this project, I explored how design could align with living systems not by imitating them, but by collaborating with their principles.

A speculative yet grounded approach to rethinking value, production, and our relationship with the materials that surround us.

Guided by a quote from Balkrishna Doshi, METAFUNGI is an invitation to shift not only what we design, but how we understand the world we shape.

During a two-day bootcamp organised by Reagent at the biolab of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in collaboration with PhD researcher Elise Elsacker, we explored the full cycle of myco-material development from fabricating hydrogel substrates with varied concentrations to experimenting with 3D printing based on our own designs.