Part1

Read the text and answer the questions below.

The Material of the Future

Eben Bayer is the co-founder of Ecovative, a company in Albany,New York, that creates an unusual substance: mycelium. Myceliumis the thread-like part of a fungus that grows underground, butBayer has found an innovative use for it – turning it intosustainable materials. Bayer originally began experimenting withmycelium after a project he did while attending business school tofind a replacement for the adhesives used in the manufacture of hisproducts. His business partner, Gavin McIntyre, applied for a patentto use mycelium as a substitute for their product. Now their best-selling mycelium product is used as packaging for fragile goods andbuildings. In the last few years, they’ve also been developingmycelium materials with fashion potential.

One designer who appreciates the qualities of mycelium isMaurizio Montalti. While studying at Design Academy Eindhovenin the Netherlands, he began to look for alternatives to materialssuch as plastic. This, he believed, would always be a waste ofresources. Instead, he worked with a substance that would be trulysustainable. He thought that fungus was ideal, having a backgroundin biology, he contacted Han Wosten, a professor at a university inthe Netherlands. In the years since, they have developed alaboratory so that it can be used to make a range of products. Thefungus they work with is the oyster mushroom (pleurotusostreatus). The thread-like roots of the oyster mushrooms are safeboth to eat and to make into organic materials, with strawproducts. Montalti and Wosten take the mass production ofmycelium to take on a scale of everyday objects. The finishedobject is fired in an oven to stop further growth.

Presently, Montalti andWostenhave createda permanentexhibition at MicroPia in Amsterdam, the world’s only museumdedicated to microbes. Called A Mycelium, the exhibition includesan array of everyday objects they’ve created, including chairs,tables, cups and bowls. It is lightweight and elegant vases which arecapable of holding water for days. By allowing visitors to interactwith each piece by picking them up, people will walk away with abetter understanding of how fungus might be a material for thefuture. It’s the fact that the items are so light, however, that visitors

say they didn’t expect.

Montalti and Wosten are keen to point out the advantages of products made of mycelium. While the tiny threads of mycelium become totally waterproof. It is this quality that makes the mycelium-based materials so great. Montalti believes, as they won’t be limited to rigid forms in the development of alternatives

to textiles, he says, ‘You could imagine making raincoats’ Furthermore, mycelium products are not harmful and once they are disposed of, they will decompose naturally into the ecosystem.

One issue Montalti and Wosten are currently dealing with is thelongevity of their products. Due to the natural qualities of fungus,the objects won’t last forever, a problem that the pair are in theprocess of trying to resolve. As an example, Montalti points tosome of his earliest creations from 2012, including a series ofbowls. These initial objects have stayed in his studio, retained theirfirmness and remained solid. This is because they have beenunaffected by humidity or temperature changes, but this stillpresents a challenge for the design of other kinds of product.Currently, the pair are trying to create a protective coating thatwould be applied to the surface of the objects near the end ofproduction, in the hope that it could delay the process of decay.

Another issue concerns the attitude of the general public. Montalti’s potential consumers. In his opinion, people became overly concerned with hygiene and germs in the home in the 20th century, and now associate fungus with dirt and infection. Many people still have negative ideas about fungus, and that’s the whole

educational part of the project that we tackle, he says. Through education, he hopes to demonstrate the amazing potential of fungus, such as its strength, which can be just as tough as Polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene, which is used to make plastic bags.

In addition to household products, Montalti and Wosten are alsoworking on producing architectural materials, such as wall panelsand insulation. They are aiming that, for all aspects of aconstruction project, mycelium could replace many of thetraditional materials such as concrete and foam. One projectinvolves going to remodel (youth centre), where they are replacingthe walls with smaller pieces of fungus panels. This will allowvisitors to experience fungus materials in their daily lives.

Questions 1-7

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Fungus research and design

Eben Bayer

started working with mycelium when he was at school
the most popular mycelium product his company makes is a type of 1 ________.

Maurizio Montalti and Han Wosten

as a design student, Montalti wanted to find a natural material that was highly 2 ________.
Montalti and Wosten teamed up and started growing fungus in a laboratory
they mainly use oyster mushrooms as these are not toxic
oyster mushrooms grow particularly well in 3 ________.
after the mycelium has been moulded into the desired shape, it is placed into a special 4 ________.

Amsterdam exhibition

museum visitors can see many fungus-based products, like items of furniture, vases and 5 ________.
visitors are surprised by how 6 ________ the products are.

Advantages of using fungus-based products

products made from fungus are completely waterproof so they can be used outside
when a product made of fungus is thrown away, it can supply the environment with some 7 ________.