Henning Larsen unveiled Growing Matter(s) during Milan Design Week, transforming Via Bonardi 9 into an experiment in design, ecology, and architecture. Built in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano, the pavilion introduces a structure composed of 80 individual mycelium spheres. Each sphere grew in response to environmental conditions, creating textures and surfaces shaped by nature instead of standard molds. The result challenges typical architectural repetition, encouraging visitors to rethink ideas of precision, uniformity, and control.
Rather than smooth or predictable forms, the installation invites variation. The material, mycelium, grows with intention but responds to its own logic. The outcome celebrates imperfection as part of a design language informed by biology.
Organic Systems Drive Architectural Form
Each mycelium sphere tells its own story. The project team cultivated the spheres using natural substrates like hemp, flour, sugar, and beer dregs, then introduced two mushroom strains: Pleurotus Eryngii and Pleurotus Ostreatus. These fungi colonized wooden molds over time. The designers created two categories: one set of spheres dried to preserve stability, and another set remained biologically active, allowing the material to continue changing.
Henning Larsen and the Material Balance Research Lab at Politecnico di Milano framed this process around circular design. The spheres decomposed after Milan Design Week, returning to the environment without producing waste. The supporting structures came from existing scaffolding systems, designed for full disassembly and later reuse.
Sound, Texture, and Collaboration
In addition to the pavilion, Henning Larsen hosted a conversation titled Designing with Changing Materials, bringing together contributors from art, fashion, and design. Jakob Strømann-Andersen, Innovation and Sustainability Director at Henning Larsen, led the discussion, which explored material experimentation across disciplines. Nathalie Danten of PLAS Collective presented MYCELIA, a clothing collection made entirely from mycelium. Artist Davide Ronco contributed insights on rammed earth and soil plastering, while Studio Eidola’s Denizay Apusoglu and Jonas Kissling examined the use of mineral waste and the narratives it carries. Gabriela Farias of ECO Consult rounded out the conversation with her work on mycelium-based experimentation.
Together, the speakers positioned Growing Matter(s) within a broader context, drawing connections between architectural practice and other production systems that must now grapple with decay, variation, and circularity.
Built for Change, Designed to Disappear
The pavilion reflects Henning Larsen’s wider work with bio-based design. Previous experiments include Denmark’s Feldballe School extension, constructed from wood, seagrass, and straw; the timber-based BESTSELLER Logistics Centre West in the Netherlands; World of Volvo in Gothenburg; and the Fritz Hansen Pavilion in Copenhagen.
By rooting design in biology, the project reframes construction as participation in a living system. Instead of controlling every outcome, the designers allowed form to emerge through organic behavior.
Location: Milan, Italy
Typology: Culture
Discipline: Architecture
Size: 24 m²
Year: 2024 – 2025
Structure: Mycelium spheres and reusable scaffolding system
Duration: 7 – 20 April 2024
Design team: Henning Larsen, Material Balance Research LAB
Sponsor: Ramboll Foundation
Mycelium production: Spore.nl
Scaffolding engineering: Di Falco srl
Sponsor and project management: RIMOND
