yong ju lee grows bio-integrated pavilion from mycelium using robotic 3D printing in seoul

"Structurally, the pavilion consists of a wooden frame that provides stability and a series of mycelium panels that form its enveloping skin. Each panel was grown inside a customized 3D printed mold, shaped by industrial robotic arms and filled with a selected substrate. Before this phase, the research team tested multiple types of mycelium mixtures, assessing their growth rates, density, and structural behavior."

"In an era when architecture and construction remain the largest global sources of carbon emissions, Mycelial Hut proposes a fundamental material shift. For much of the modern period, concrete and steel symbolized progress and economy, yet their environmental cost has become untenable. Seoul- and New York-based firm Yong Ju Lee Architecture's pavilion turns toward organism-based composites, materials that are biodegradable, recyclable, and regenerative, to question the very premise of what makes a building sustainable."

"Developed in collaboration with the Robotic Fabrication Studio (RFS) at Seoul National University of Science and Technology and installed in the open landscape of SeoulTech's campus, Mycelial Hut embodies a vision of bio-integrated architecture that grows out of its environment. It makes the notion of eco-friendly design tangible, inviting visitors to imagine a future in which buildings are not manufactured but cultivated, alive, decomposable, and deeply entangled with the ecosystems that sustain them."

Mycelial Hut is an experimental pavilion in Seoul that investigates mycelium as a large-scale building material. The pavilion uses a wooden structural frame with mycelium panels grown inside customized 3D printed molds shaped by industrial robotic arms. The research tested multiple mycelium substrate mixtures to assess growth rates, density, and structural behavior. The project advances organism-based composites that are biodegradable, recyclable, and regenerative, aiming to reduce carbon emissions associated with concrete and steel. Installed on SeoulTech's campus in collaboration with a robotic fabrication studio, the pavilion embodies bio-integrated architecture that grows, breathes, and decomposes within its environment.

Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine