Ep. 144: SQIM, Mogu, Ephea – Merging with Mycelium to Grow Regenerative Futures (feat. Maurizio Montalti)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the opportunity to speak with Maurizio Montalti. Maurizio Montalti is a designer, researcher, educator and entrepreneur. Working at the junction of design and biotech, he is one of the early pioneers committed to the study and development of wide-ranging mycelium-based technologies and products. Maurizio is Chief Mycelium Officer, Chairman, and co-Founder of SQIM, the (bio)technology company developing innovative processes and products by unravelling the potential of mycelium as key biofabrication agent and technology, for application and use across different industries, as fundamentally rooted in the valorisation of residual materials’ streams by means of microbial fermentation. As (bio-)technological holding, today SQIM serves its two verticals/brands: MOGU (biomaterials/products dedicated to interior design and architecture) and EPHEA (biomaterials/products dedicated to fashion, automotive, etc.). Maurizio’s work has been honoured with multiple awards, widely featured in the global media, and exhibited worldwide in prestigious musea, galleries, and institutions, including Museum of Modern Art (New York), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Design Museum (London), Triennale (Milano), MAXXI (Rome), and MAK- Museum of Applied Arts (Vienna), among others.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Into the Spiraling Vortex of Mycelium   
• From Degradation of Waste to Regenerative Materials   
• Mogu Acoustic Collection   
• Selecting Fungal Species & Strains as Materials   
• Standardizing Unpredictable Myco-Materials   
• Can Organisms Retain Agency when Enlisted to Human Scientific and Economic Endeavour?   
• Wild Genetic Variation within Fungal Species   
• Fungal Strains SQIM Collaborates With   
• Becoming Fluent in the Language of Fungi    
• Living Buildings & Autonomous Biowelding   
• “Ephea” Leather and Fabric Product Lines   
• Scaling SQIM & Modular Mycelium Production   
• Circular Production Processes, Seeing Waste as a Resource   
• Fungi in Space   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• SQIM Website: https://www.sqim.bio/   
• Mogu Website: https://mogu.bio/   
• Mogu IG: https://www.instagram.com/mogumycelium/   
• Fungal Architecture Project: https://www.fungar.eu/   
• Officina Corpuscoli: https://www.corpuscoli.com/   
• Schizophyllum commune (AKA Split Gill Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophyllum_commune   
• "Braiding Sweetgrass": https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass   
• "Designs for the Pluroverse": https://www.dukeupress.edu/designs-for-the-pluriverse   
• "Mushroom at the End of the World": https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691220550/the-mushroom-at-the-end-of-the-world