Sebastian Cox and Ninela Ivanova; Mycelium + Timber

Furniture designer; Sebastian Cox and interdisciplinary fabric designer Ninela Ivanova have been collaboratively investigating the use of fungi in design. Thin strips of goat willow are woven into a mould and then the fungus 'Fomes Fomentarius' is added with further willow to feed it.

"It's not just about the fungus, it's about the marriage of the two materials. "It's not sustainability for us – it's just what makes sense. These two materials have a natural relationship in the woodland, so let's see how we can exploit that." Ninela Ivanova

Sebastian Cox  does not use composite wood products in his work as he has never been satisfied with the binding agent used in them, hence he has always been interested in recreating a natural alternative.

"Mycelium offers us the opportunity to create products that not only continue but advance our ethos of sustainability and test our ability as a studio to design for new methods of manufacture," Sebastian Cox 

The 'Mycelium + Timber' has so far been developed into a range of lighting and seating but as the material is further developed and its application explored who knows what creative furniture design we will see using the unique qualities of fungus.