In the exhibition industry, a lot of furniture is disposed of, especially for temporary exhibitions. This assumption has been disproved by the interviews conducted. However, there is still a lot of potential for development. Mycelium-based composite material is believed to make it possible for museums and exhibition spaces to ensure a more sustainable future in furniture construction. To prove this, a prototype of a flexible formwork was developed, based on the requirements of what a piece of furniture should be able to withstand in an exhibition context.
The development of the prototype was accompanied by material research in terms of ecology, economy, and technical requirements. This formwork made it possible to create both round and angular shapes and to represent the exhibition furniture. It was filled with composite material during the research. It turned out that the design of the formwork had to be revised because the oxygen supply was insufficient. In the second trial, the experiment was successful. The work shows that a rethink is required, on the one hand by museums in their approach towards the procurement of furniture for exhibitions, with the purpose of a circular economy based on mycelium, and on the other hand for the visitors, who must get acquainted with different surfaces.
