Very cool use of 3D-printing - mushroom roots "could be used to build houses"

Mushroom roots can "build a table, an interior, or even a house" - Eric Klarenbeek from Dezeen on Vimeo.

Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: designer Eric Klarenbeek’s Mycelium chair, which takes its name from the extensive threadlike root structure of fungi, combines organic matter with bioplastics to make a light and strong composite material that can be 3D-printed. Klarenbeek found that fungus grows quickly on straw, so used powdered straw mixed with water and mycelium to make an aggregate that could be 3D-printed.

The possibilities opened up by this material are many, Klarenbeek claims. "It could be a table, or a whole interior, and that’s where it becomes interesting for me. It's really strong, solid, lightweight and insulating. We could [even] build a house!"