Starre Julia Vartan

The article, “All Natural” in the July/August, 2013 print version of Metropolis magazine (you can read the online version here), was a blast to report. Such talented young designers with an incredible vision of how low-impact—yet still high design—furniture can be. I want a chair made from mushrooms now!

“Experiment” is the word that pops up, like mushrooms after a rainstorm, when Merjan Sisman and Brian McClellan describe their industrial design thesis project at Philadelphia University. At the beginning of their senior year, their goal was to design something from living materials. After deciding against a slime mold–based leather, they hit upon mycelium, which is essentially the roots of a mushroom. (Picture the weblike interior of a rotted log with mushrooms growing from the top.)

To read the rest of the article, click here.