Tinkering with Mycelium. A case study.

Creative “hands-on” experimentation with materials is a significant practice for material-driven design. It allows to understand materials, move further experimentations and generate meaningful visions. Through Material Tinkering, the tinkerer establish an intimate dialogue with the material, allowing the material to express its agency and letting it speaks. The material suggests and moves the designer’s choices and actions, co-performing in a proactive way, as it was alive. This is even more evident when experimenting with a living organism, e.g. mycelium, when the material is alive. How does tinkering contribute in understanding these materials? How do living and growing materials influence tinkering? We present a case study of an exploratory research through tinkering on a mycelium-based material. The qualitative results and insights bring to the understanding of the material and highlight some strategies for tinkering.