Assia Crawford, assistant professor in architecture, has co-edited a new book on one of the most unexpected materials in contemporary design: fungi. Designing Mycelium: Exploring the Design Potential of Fungi, published by Routledge, was co-edited with Jonathan Dessi-Olive and brings together voices from across disciplines.

Designing Mycelium explores the growing role of mycelium in architecture, art, product design, fabrication, and material research. Bringing together mycologists, architects, artists, designers, researchers, and makers, the book captures a rapidly developing field shaped by experimentation with fungi as living material.

The volume establishes a foundation in fungal biology, living materials, the history of mycelium architecture, cultivation, and casting, before expanding into a broad range of design practices. Its chapters address decay, temporality, ritual, material agency, artificial intelligence, craft, textiles, 3D printing, regenerative design, acoustics, remediation, and the scaling of mycelium-based materials. Growth, metabolism, variability, decomposition, and regeneration become integral parts of the design process.

Organized through the sections All About the Fungus, Amulets, Alchemy, and Artifact, the book moves between scientific research, theoretical inquiry, material experimentation, fabrication, and architectural application. Projects range from textiles, objects, and experimental materials to installations, acoustic systems, architectural components, pavilions, and large-scale prototypes.

Across these diverse practices, the book documents a community developing new ways of working with living organisms and biological processes. Questions of care, collaboration, ecological interdependence, impermanence, and material life cycles connect the contributions. Designing Mycelium presents a snapshot of contemporary mycelium practice while outlining the methods, ideas, and possibilities shaping its continued development.

Contributors: Giuliana Furci, Sara Branco, Elise Elsacker, Ali Ghazvinian, Assia Crawford, Côme Di Meglio, Phil Ayres, Jemila MacEwan, Richard Beckett, Christopher Whiteside, Hangchuan Wei, Omid Oliyan, Jonathan Dessi-Olive, Jonas Edvard, Orkan Telhan, Natalie Alima, Nancy Diniz, Frank Melendez, Natalia Beata Piórecka, Dana Cupkova, Rachel Rosenkrantz, Christopher Maurer, Mohamad Arekha Bentangan, Andy Cartier, and Benay Gürsoy.

Graphic Designers: Kaming Lee and Allison Yoon

Copyeditor: Lynne Fowlkes

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