For more details, you'll need to contact Philip Ross of San Francisco or visit his website, www.philross.org. But, in the meantime, here's some basic information to stimulate your curiosity and sense of design.
Mr. Ross incorporates mycelium, often reiche, grown on red oak sawdust from Northern California mills, into his hand-crafted furniture. Sure, it sounds a little wacky, but he explains that "it's a versatile building material with many attractive qualities." For example, he claims that mycelium is fire-retardant, compostable, plastic, a good insulator, healthy for humans to be around, and as strong, structurally, as concrete, adding that "I've shot a handgun at one of these and the network was strong enough to block the bullet - it only went in about 5 inches." Now, let's hope that there won't be guns being fired anywhere near the mycelium furniture that you may acquire but, just in case, you now know what will happen.
Philip favors Ganoderma lucidum, commonly known as reishi,
for furniture making. Notice how this specimen has grown
around a stick that was in its path.
Ready to build your own mycelium furniture? You're in luck. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle authored by Alec Scott, Mr. Ross has held a grow-your-own furniture class. After following the ABCs (Always Be Cleaning), pieces of broken-up mycelium were stuffed into molds that were the shape of the desired furniture. These molds were then positioned in a plastic-surrounded, humidified enclosure, with HEPA-filtered air. The mycelium prospered, consuming the substrate that they were growing on over the course of several days. The resulting mass was baked at a low temperature for a number of hours.
How do you finish furniture made with mycelium? The dried furniture pieces can be finished using essential oils to sanitize the surface followed by an application of linseed oil and shellac to preserve and protect. Or, if you're more adventurous and looking for a conversation starter in your room, forego the finish and allow the piece to naturally grow fruiting bodies and antlers. This is a whole new concept in eco-friendly furniture!