Justin Wan's GOURDO lamp uses mycelium and luffa as composite biomaterial
Designer Justin Wan has created GOURDO, a lighting project that combines mycelium from oyster mushroom spores with luffa fibers to form a composite biomaterial. The lamp's base is grown by inoculating a substrate of shredded luffa, coconut husk, corn kernels, and wood chips with spores, incubating for two weeks, then fragmenting the colonized mycelium and mixing it with fresh substrate and luffa cores in molds. After controlled growth, the piece is oven-dried. The softer outer luffa layer wraps the base as a lampshade, diffusing light. GOURDO extends Wan's earlier Luffa Stoolita project, using plant by-products and food waste. The name derives from Spanish 'gordo' meaning 'fat' or 'big'. Each lamp is unique due to natural variation.
Key facts
- GOURDO is a lighting project by Justin Wan.
- It uses mycelium from oyster mushroom spores and luffa fibers as a composite biomaterial.
- The mycelium is cultivated on a substrate of shredded luffa, coconut husk, corn kernels, and wood chips.
- Incubation takes approximately two weeks until full colonization.
- The colonized mycelium is fragmented, mixed with fresh substrate and luffa cores, then molded.
- The piece is oven-dried to stabilize the material.
- The outer luffa layer acts as a permeable lampshade.
- The name GOURDO comes from the Spanish word 'gordo'.
Entities
Artists
- Justin Wan
- Paul Edward Liu
- Tim Ting-Hao Chen
Institutions
- designboom
- Columbia University GSAPP
- DesignWanted
Locations
- Milan
- Barcelona