Half of Berlin has spent the last few weekends foraging for mushrooms. For those who can’t get enough of the fungal frenzy, good news: alongside ink caps, chestnuts, and parasols for dinner, there are now mushrooms for your living room. Berlin-based label, Rund, creates furniture from mycelium — the root-like network of fungi. Instead of gluing, screwing, or casting, Rund simply lets the pieces grow. Founders Andy and Max, both trained architects, are convinced of one thing: fungi are the future of design. With Rund, they’ve developed a material that allows modular furniture to grow (literally) from mycelium. The process is surprisingly simple: a blend of industrial by-products, such as hemp (preferably locally-sourced), is inoculated with mycelium. The mixture is placed into molds and incubated in a controlled environment. Once the mycelium has fully colonized the substrate, the furniture can be removed from its mold. The final step is drying, which stops further growth and kills any remaining spores. The result is a Rund piece with a surface somewhere between ceramic, oyster shell, and aged Camembert — cream-colored, sculptural, and striking. Highlights include the planter with its beautifully weathered patina reminiscent of vintage fiber-cement pieces, and the Organic Stool and Coffee Table, with textures that defy comparison. Rund brings something genuinely new to the world of design, and it’s hard to look away. And when your mycelium furniture has lived its life? Just toss it in the compost — the circle of furniture life.
Text: Inga Krumme / Photos: Linda Deutsch, Rund, Tim Sonntag
Rund
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