compostable bicycle seat takes shape as mycelium grows around the wooden saddle

Mycelium shapes compostable wooden bicycle seat

Networks of mycelium grow and form the shape of the compostable bicycle seat with a wooden saddle. Named Myco Seat by Ludwig Eder, the biomaterial is seen growing out of the holes from under the saddle, continuing its growth and stabilizing the seat. The designer shapes the wooden saddle with CNC-cut timber using computational tools to map out exactly where the mycelium needs to grow and where the structure needs to breathe. 

The pattern of holes found around the compostable wooden bicycle seat is what can be considered functional geometry so that the mycelium, the root network of mushrooms, can spread evenly through the substrate underneath. That substrate is local agricultural waste comprising sawdust, hemp leftovers, and straw – the kinds of materials that would otherwise be thrown away. The mycelium binds them all together, growing through the fibers like a slow, natural glue before hardening into a solid form when it’s dried and its growth is stopped.

Fungus DIY kit made from hemp shivs

The compostable wooden bicycle seat by designer Ludwig Eder comes through the Grow It Yourself (GIY) kit made by the Dutch biodesign company, Grown.bio. The idea is exactly what it sounds like: users get a kit with a substrate mix made from hemp shives and other agricultural by-products, they add mycelium spores and pack it into a mold, and then they leave it. Over a few days, the mycelium grows and fills the shape. Users dry it, and over time, they have a solid, lightweight, fully natural object made of fungal networks.

The design of Ludwig Eder is one of the many examples that could grow from the kit. In Björn Johan’s case, the creator has created a stand with a mini table and mini wooden shelves, still incorporating Reishi, a fungus grown on hemp shivs, into the work. Other projects that have come up include a flower planter with rounded walls and an organic shape as well as a packaging box for wine bottles, which are thicker-walled to hold temperature. Out of the kit, mycelium positions itself as a biomaterial that can grow the design industry even more. Instead of taking inspiration from nature, growing the thread-like filaments allows designers to work with nature directly, resulting in functional designs, be it a compostable wooden bicycle seat or an insert for a package.

project info:

name: MycoSeat

designers: Ludwig Eder, Björn Johan | @lu__eder, @bjorn.johan.pdf

company: Grown.bio | @grown_bio