Designers and research studios are finding fascinating ways to work with nature at the 2023 fair. bioMATTERS, for instance, specialises in 3D printing and robotic fabrication techniques for living materials. It develops solutions for ‘grown-living design’ for product design and architecture applications, and fabricates a wide range of biomaterials using clay, mycelium, microalgae, and bacterial based dyes.

Silklab is an interdisciplinary materials science lab from Tufts University, in Greater Boston, which focuses on the potential and properties of silk fibroin. The studio displayed the possibilities of its material.

Material Magic comes from the Innovation Hub East-Groningen and Dutch designer Jack Brandsma. It investigates how binders like magnesium and potato starch can be combined with hemp fibres to create products.

And on the top floor, Mycelium Lab creates highly sustainable, bio-based wall covering panels using mycelium. Each wall panel showcases unique textures captured at different stages of the mycelium growth cycle, resulting in some fascinating designs. The company presented part of its inaugural collection, Fumo Panels.

Image: Jack Brandsma’s Material Magic.