Capital of Mushrooms

Abstract: Mushrooms have already been proven to be a reliable and versatile material for various design purposes. For my project I am experimenting with expanding the possibilities of mushroom matter as a building material and also contemplating mushroom as a metaphor for local culture in relation to Lithuanian people as a whole. Developing mushroom matter into a building material designed for a specific site opens the possibility of having an ecological and cheap material that also has a connection to the local people in more than one way. The origin of the building material might suggest specific character for the site, e.g. in cases like Bath, UK, the stone type is largely associated with the city and vice versa. I propose a material type that can be grown into specific shapes and adapted to the weather conditions of northern countries as well as being grown from local mushrooms, providing prosperity to the local economy, which in turn should help reverse the emigration problem prevalent in the country that is not showing any signs of stopping. A significant and symbolic site was chosen for the trial test of a new building envelope type - a railway station, which has only been adapted to service the European gauge railway this year. The physical connection with Europe in this case might open the floodgates back to the country, encouraging people who had left to consider coming back to enjoy the literal and metaphorical fruits of the homeland.