Bricks made from mushroom roots grow on their own in just 5 days inside a mold, are fire-resistant, insulate heat, and at the end of their lifespan can be thrown in the garden because they decompose naturally.

Written by Flavia Marinho

Published on 22/04/2026 at 19:06

Updated on 22/04/2026 at 19:07

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The mycelium is the network of invisible roots that every mushroom has beneath the ground, and when this network grows inside a mold with sawdust, it hardens and becomes a resistant block that can replace styrofoam and even brick

When you see a mushroom on the forest floor, you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the ground exists a huge network of white filaments called mycelium. This network can spread for meters, sometimes covering entire hectares.

It is the mycelium that decomposes organic matter, transports nutrients, and keeps the ecosystem functioning.

The American company Ecovative Design, founded by Eben Bayer in 2007, discovered something surprising about this network of roots.

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How the process works: from spore to brick in a week

The process begins with agricultural waste: sawdust, corn straw, rice husks.

This material is sterilized and placed inside molds of the desired shape.

Mushroom spores are added to the mixture.

In a controlled environment, with ideal temperature and humidity, the mycelium begins to grow.

The filaments spread throughout the sawdust, sticking the particles together like a natural biological glue.

After 5 to 7 days, the block is removed from the mold and placed in a low-temperature oven to kill the living organism and dry the material.

The result is a rigid, lightweight block with surprising properties.

White mycelium roots growing in organic substrate — *Mycelium growing like white roots through the organic substrate in a laboratory tray.*

Resistant to fire and insulates like styrofoam, but does not pollute like it

Styrofoam is one of the most used materials in packaging and thermal insulation.

But it is made from petroleum, takes 500 years to decompose, and pollutes oceans.

The mycelium block has thermal properties similar to those of styrofoam.

It insulates heat, absorbs impacts, and is lightweight.

But when discarded, it decomposes in weeks in the soil.

It can literally be thrown in the garden and turns into compost.

Additionally, dry mycelium is naturally fire-resistant.

Unlike polystyrene, which melts and releases toxic gases, the mushroom block slowly carbonizes without spreading flames.

Dell and IKEA are already using mycelium packaging

Dell was one of the first major companies to adopt mycelium packaging to protect computers during transport.

IKEA has also tested the material as a substitute for polystyrene in their furniture boxes.

The cost is still higher than conventional polystyrene, but the difference has been decreasing with increased production scale.

Ecovative already produces the material in factories in the United States and licenses the technology to other countries.

From packaging to brick: the next step is to build houses

If mycelium works as packaging, why not as a building material?

In 2014, the architecture firm The Living built a tower of mycelium bricks at MoMA PS1 in New York.

The Hy-Fi tower was 12 meters tall and was made entirely of blocks grown with mycelium.

When the exhibition ended, the tower was dismantled and the blocks were composted.

They returned to the earth. Zero waste.

Researchers at Newcastle University in the UK are developing mycelium that can self-repair.

If a mycelium wall cracks, just add nutrients and moisture for the fungus to grow back and seal the fissure.

The limitations that still need to be addressed

Mycelium does not have the structural strength to support the weight of floors.

It needs to be combined with wooden or steel structures, just like hempcrete and other biomaterials.

The long-term durability is still being studied.

In very humid environments, there is a risk of reactivating the fungus if the drying process is not complete.

But as a thermal insulator, impact absorber, and substitute for polystyrene, mycelium is already viable.

A material that grows on its own, does not need a polluting factory, and turns into compost at the end of its life.

If someone had said this 20 years ago, no one would have believed it. Today, Dell ships your computer packaged in it.

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Bricks made from mushroom roots grow on their own in just 5 days inside a mold, are fire-resistant, insulate heat, and at the end of their lifespan can be thrown in the garden because they decompose naturally.

The mycelium is the network of invisible roots that every mushroom has beneath the ground, and when this network grows inside a mold with sawdust, it hardens and becomes a resistant block that can replace styrofoam and even brick

How the process works: from spore to brick in a week

Resistant to fire and insulates like styrofoam, but does not pollute like it

Dell and IKEA are already using mycelium packaging

From packaging to brick: the next step is to build houses

The limitations that still need to be addressed

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Bricks made from mushroom roots grow on their own in just 5 days inside a mold, are fire-resistant, insulate heat, and at the end of their lifespan can be thrown in the garden because they decompose naturally.

The mycelium is the network of invisible roots that every mushroom has beneath the ground, and when this network grows inside a mold with sawdust, it hardens and becomes a resistant block that can replace styrofoam and even brick

How the process works: from spore to brick in a week

Resistant to fire and insulates like styrofoam, but does not pollute like it

Dell and IKEA are already using mycelium packaging

From packaging to brick: the next step is to build houses

The limitations that still need to be addressed

While in Brazil a 10-story building takes 2 years to complete, in China a company stacks pre-fabricated modules and raises the entire building in just 28 hours and 45 minutes.

Egypt wants to draw 10 million cubic meters of water from the Nile per day into the desert, irrigate a new agricultural frontier, and build a city where there is currently only sand.

BRICS is preparing a payment system inspired by the Brazilian PIX that will allow direct transactions between countries using national digital currencies without relying on the dollar or Western banks as intermediaries.

Ethiopia has banned gasoline and diesel cars, placed over a hundred silent electric buses on the streets of Addis Ababa, and now aims for half a million electric vehicles by 2030, all powered by Africa’s largest dam and a courage that few countries have shown.

A factory video in India goes viral showing workers wearing helmets with cameras to train an artificial intelligence that will eventually replace these same employees on the production lines.

In the South Atlantic, three isolated volcanic islands cause the wind to draw perfect spirals visible from space: a rare phenomenon called von Kármán vortex streets forms symmetrical patterns behind the peaks of the South Sandwich Islands and was recorded by the NOAA-20 satellite in 2025.

Created to cling to ships like a lamprey, the new U.S. underwater drone sleeps on the ocean floor, launches torpedoes, and recharges itself with the current.

Dell’s factory showcased what happens in its testing center, far from the showrooms: laptops dropped to the ground continuously, total silence chambers, and servers operating under extreme noise.

Young scientists in China are turning research into startups with a robotic hand that dominates 80% of the market, electronic skin, chips, and an AI network, while Beijing accelerates innovation with thousands of talents, public support, and the ambition to lead in strategic technologies.

Australian researchers have discovered that adding cigarette butts to clay in bricks makes them lighter, with better thermal insulation, and uses up to 60% less energy to produce, while 4.5 trillion butts are discarded worldwide each year.

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Dell’s factory showcased what happens in its testing center, far from the showrooms: laptops dropped to the ground continuously, total silence chambers, and servers operating under extreme noise.

Young scientists in China are turning research into startups with a robotic hand that dominates 80% of the market, electronic skin, chips, and an AI network, while Beijing accelerates innovation with thousands of talents, public support, and the ambition to lead in strategic technologies.

A company that drilled for oil has drilled 4.8 kilometers of rock in Utah and found a never-ending heat of 290 degrees — now it is building the world’s first next-generation commercial geothermal power plant, with 100 MW connected to the grid in June 2026.

Australian researchers have discovered that adding cigarette butts to clay in bricks makes them lighter, with better thermal insulation, and uses up to 60% less energy to produce, while 4.5 trillion butts are discarded worldwide each year.