.Unusual

Designing with living materials

The current manufacturing industry largely relies on monocultures, using one material, one traditional production process and one waste processing method. This results in high CO₂ emissions, unusable residual streams, and a loss of biodiversity. The construction sector, in particular, remains heavily dependent on extractive materials such as concrete and plastic.

Eric Klarenbeek and Maartje Dros of design studio .unusual take a different view of nature. They see it not as an inexhaustible source of materials, but as something to collaborate with. They create products by working with fast-growing microorganisms such as algae and mycelium, experimenting with industrial applications of these living raw materials in their workshop and laboratory.