The WURTSTOL seating system seeks to demonstrate the viability of the technique of mycelial moulding in furniture design for the contemporary household in a modular, mass-produced package. WURTSTOL is designed to educate and inform those outside of the design industry of Mycelium’s potential for future design. The system aims to serve as a demonstration as much as it does a set of seats. The multilegged design spreads pressure throughout rather allowing mycelium to support a user’s weight while also offering an unconventional somewhat organic eye-catching aesthetic, allowing WURTSTOL to draw in curious observers to learn about its novel material of choice.

The majority of WURTSTOL is comprised of waste straw from the agricultural industry, a resource of global abundance. Moulds are packed full of this straw and then seeded with mycelium and allowed to incubate for two weeks. The fungal network will grow throughout the straw substrate creating a strong homogeneous web; turning a loose pile of chopped-up straw into a single solid ‘panel’. These panels can then be dried into a material that is light, entirely organic and has great compressional strength. The only other materials used in WURTSTOL’s construction are tulipwood, chosen for its minimal environmental impact and an organic, dextrin adhesive used to bind the panels together.

As well as environmentalism, WURTSOL aims to be attainable for the typical person, this focus on mass-production makes it somewhat unique when it comes to mycelial furniture which is, at this early stage in its development as a material, typically produced in batches or on a bespoke basis. Because of its environmentally sound design and mass-produced nature. WURTSTOL could be the first step in habilitating the concept of mycelial design in the minds of the average person.