Symbiotic connection
of plants and fungi

Term project
2 Months / 100%
(March - Mai 2023)

Umeå University (UmU)
/ UmU Department of Molecular Biology
/ Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
/ Faculty of Forest Sciences
/ Dept. of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Umeå
/ School for Forest Management, Skinnskatteberg Vertisà AB, Umeå
University Pforzheim / Design Department, Germany
Kineco.

During my exchange at Umeå Institute of Design (UID) in Sweden, I joined the student-run climate group. Our exploration of a dead indoor plant wall in the Arts Campus emerged into the interdisciplinary project Växtvägg (swed.: forest wall), aiming to share research and knowledge about the Arctic’s unique climate ecosystem. We, designers, biologists and forestry scientists, examined ways to bring the local boreal forest indoors and into a new climate. If you are curious about the project and, e.g. the compelling microbological work, visit the website Zeo Löwenhielm and I created.

In my contribution to Växtvägg, I focused on the symbiotic connection between plants and fungi. Crafting three concepts, I explored design attributes benefiting both species, resulting in mycelium objects supporting the plant wall as a bioassembled material-alternative. Unlike the common method of curing mycelium, I kept the fungus alive, envi‚sioning an indoor forest where plants and mycelium form a symbiotic organism, exchanging water and nutrients while providing protection from pathogens. Additionally, I took part in curating our final exhibition at the UID Degree Show and developed the project’s visual language.