When construction materials grow organically: Building with fungi

Brain City Berlin

Houses made of fungi? What sounds like science fiction is the subject of intensive research at the Technical University of Berlin. From October 13 to 16, 2026, researchers from the fields of biotechnology, architecture, materials research, design, and art came to Brain City Berlin for the international conference "Building with Fungi." Their shared question: How resilient are building materials made from fungi, and how can they be produced at scale?

The basis of these new materials is mycelium, the fine, branching network through which fungi grow in soil or in wood. When fungi are given plant residues such as hemp shives or wood chips, they grow through the material and bind it into a solid composite. At the end, the fungus is killed by heat. What remains is a lightweight material that can be used, for example, as insulation, as a building component, or in combination with other materials.

Several projects at the conference showed what this can look like in practice. In Namibia, the team from MycoHab first grew edible mushrooms from an invasive bush that overruns large grazing areas there, then pressed the colonized substrate into building blocks. This produced a building in Windhoek that, according to the team, is supported entirely by fungal blocks. In 2025, US artist Sam Shoemaker paddled roughly 42 kilometers across the Pacific off Los Angeles in a boat made of fungal material.

Still many open questions

Before fungal materials arrive on German construction sites, however, there is still a long way to go, and this was openly discussed in Berlin as well. Engineer and chemist Mitchell P. Jones of TU Wien pointed out that the strength, durability, and thermal insulation of many fungal materials still lag behind conventional building materials, and that production is often slow and difficult to automate. The ecological benefit, too, must be demonstrated on a case-by-case basis. Numerous projects presented at the conference are working on such questions: from which fungal species suit which applications, to 3D printing with living mycelium, to using reclaimed wood and leftover bread as a growing medium.

Architect Prof. Eike Roswag-Klinge, vice president of TU Berlin and president of the Berlin Chamber of Architects, made clear why the search is worthwhile. Construction causes high greenhouse gas emissions and large raw material consumption: according to him, 92 percent of the mineral raw materials extracted in Germany are used for buildings and infrastructure. Renewable materials could make a contribution here.

Research between the lab, architecture, and art

The host was the "MY-CO BUILD" Collaborative Research Center at TU Berlin, which the German Research Foundation (DFG) has been funding since 2026. Under the leadership of biotechnologist and artist Prof. Dr. Vera Meyer of TU Berlin, teams from biotechnology, engineering, and architecture are researching how fungal building materials can be produced, tested, and evaluated. The focus is often on tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius), a fungus widespread in native forests.

"We have already achieved so much: a new discipline, 'Fungal Materials Science,' and a new, fitting international conference series that unites the natural sciences, the humanities, the arts, design, architecture, and DIY. And in doing so puts people and their culture at the center — to use that as a starting point for finding new sustainable solutions for the future," explains Prof. Dr. Vera Meyer. The conference had 165 participants and will take place again next year: "For many participants, the keynote lectures and conversations were more than just an inspiration: they were eye-opening and groundbreaking. BwF 2026 has thus created an excellent foundation for the success of the conference series, and I am already looking forward to welcoming everyone back here in Berlin in 2027." The dates for that are October 5 to 8, 2027.

That Brain City Berlin is a good place for this topic was shown by the program: alongside TU Berlin with architect Prof. Anupama Kundoo, participants included the Humboldt University of Berlin's "Matters of Activity" Cluster of Excellence and the Berlin-Weißensee Academy of Art. A materials exhibition on October 14 made the materials tangible, and film screenings and workshops rounded out the program. Anyone who would like to see the fungal materials for themselves has the opportunity at the German Museum of Technology: MY-CO BUILD is part of the exhibition "SuperCity 3000. Our City of the Future." It runs until June 27, 2027.

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