Andy Cartier

Chimera Furniture

Mycelium Experiments

What if mycelium was combined to existing furniture to give them a new life? 

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Chimera Outdoor Chair -

A few weeks ago, we found in front of the CleanLab, a broken metal chair that was going to be thrown away. We decided to find a way to make it desirable again with a mycelium enhancement. This first prototype explores how we can fix and extend the life of broken furniture.

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The chair was painted right after we found it -

After we painted the chair, the idea was to create a new seat out of mycelium. To give strength to the material, we used jute fabric to create a "Pillow" of living material.

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Sowing the jute in order to fill it -

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Sowing the jute in a pillow's shape -

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Leave one side open to fill it -

We filled the "pillow" with a Hemp-based substrate and then close it.

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Filling it with the Mycelium -

 

Someone sat on it to give it a comfortable shape and then we attached it with ropes to maintain it during the growth.

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Pillow on the chair -

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Tightening of the ropes -

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Plastic around the mycelium keeps the moisture inside -

The chair was then left to grow for around 10 days.

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Final result -

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End-result -

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End-result -

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end-result -

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Close-up -

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Close-up-2 -

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Result without the ropes -

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Close up without the ropes -