Biolittlething

Biolittlething is a bio-design studio exploring biomaterials and biowaste through research and experimentation

What happens when a structure offers possibilities without prescribing a form?In Life in Cavities, we used crocheted wool to create a porous body for Reishi mycelium to colonise. The open crochet contained cavities of varying sizes, leaving the organism multiple pathways to grow through and beyond its woollen skin.The growth did not follow a uniform pattern. Mycelium accumulated more densely along the lower part of the body, while the upper areas remained relatively sparse. Over time, it extended beyond the crochet structure and attached itself to the surrounding container walls. What emerged was not a continuous surface, but a body marked by contrasts between density and absence, containment and extension.These differences may have been influenced by moisture, gravity, and nutrient distribution, although the experiment did not isolate their individual effects. What we observed was that the organism did not simply fill the available cavities. It formed its own uneven pattern, extending beyond the boundaries we had initially provided.

The experiment raised a question about design control. A more enclosed structure might offer greater control over the material's appearance, but it could also introduce other challenges, including contamination. Here, the open crochet structure produced an unpredictable result without visible contamination.We began to think of structure less as a prescription for form and more as a set of conditions within which growth could unfold. The crochet did not determine exactly where the mycelium should go. It offered a framework, and the organism responded in ways we could observe but not fully direct.Life in Cavities became an exploration of this tension between shaping and allowing. The resulting form was neither entirely designed nor entirely beyond design. It emerged through an encounter between the structure we made and the growth we could not fully anticipate.

Biolittlething is a bio-design studio exploring biomaterials and biowaste through research and experimentation

Raw wool, Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) mycelium, cotton fabric · 2024We stuffed a stitched cotton shell with raw wool and Reishi-inoculated substrate containing aspen wood chips, oats, and gypsum. The cotton served as both a mould and an outer skin, holding the material in a defined, doll-like form.As the mycelium colonised the wool, mushroom pins developed beneath the cotton surface, pressing outward and stretching the fabric fibres around their emerging forms. Rather than growing through pre-made openings, the pins gradually displaced the cotton, loosening its weave as they pushed against the skin.The Myco-Doll explored how living growth can reshape an imposed form, revealing the tension between the boundaries we construct and the bodies that grow within them.

Biolittlething is a bio-design studio exploring biomaterials and biowaste through research and experimentation

What if wool could felt itself, with the help of a living organism?Myco-felting I began as an experiment to investigate whether raw wool could support mycelial growth and become a self-binding material. We introduced Pleurotus ostreatus, commonly known as oyster mushroom, to unprocessed wool and observed its transformation over several weeks.Without carding or mechanically preparing the fibres, the mycelium gradually spread through the wool, forming a dense, cotton-like network. As colonisation progressed, the material shifted in appearance and texture. Cloudy masses gave way to delicate, web-like formations, while the fibres became increasingly entangled and bonded. The process recalled wet wool felting, but here, mycelium acted as the binding agent. The material retained moisture and developed a soft, spongy quality. Early mushroom pins appeared, but fruiting did not fully develop, partly due to difficulties in maintaining humidity.The experiment invited us to pay attention to material change as it unfolded. We watched the wool shift from a loose mass of raw fibres into something resembling a small landscape: first cloudy and dense, then threaded with delicate networks. Its earthy, damp smell and soft surface made the process tangible beyond what could be seen. The experiment became a starting point for thinking about material-making as a process of observation and negotiation, where the designer can establish conditions but cannot fully determine the outcome.