University of California, Davis + Yunnan Arts University
PROJECTS 2025
Mykos
FINALIST PROJECT
Wanyu He, Yaping Wang, Bohan Hu, Jingrui He, Zihan Zhou, Echie Cheung, Alexi Espinosa, Gisella Henrianto, Abigail Ko, Megumi Konzen, Keiko Ladrillono, Dharyl Licudine, Emily-Mae McConihe, Jennelyn Nguyen, Swayam Patel, Sam Piechota, Yash Rathi, Celina Reyes, Forest Sabath, Kavya Shankar, Manda (Jiayi) Shi, Abby Sommer, Joanne Tai, Lilly Tisza, Phuong Tran, Cierra Mae Venzon
Mykos is a project to build the world’s first structural mycelium eco-village on a mushroom farm in Yunnan, China, a fungal biodiversity hotspot with over 900 edible species. Despite Yunnan’s deep cultural connection to mushroom foraging, myco-materials have yet to be developed locally. The project introduces mykobricks—sustainable building blocks made from spent mushroom substrate—to construct eco-friendly housing in the traditional Yi architectural style. Mykos celebrates and preserves the region’s ethnic heritage while contributing to the sustainable development of China’s emerging bioeconomy through innovative use of local natural resources.
Instructors 2025
Christina Cogdell, Ph.D. is Professor in the Dept. of Design at UC Davis. She has taught biodesign since 2013 and her two books explore the history of biodesign.
Andrew Yao is the Manager of the BioInnovation Lab at UC Davis, and he has co-led team research and experimentation for BDC since 2018.
Danting Sun, Ph.D., is a professor of Environmental Design at the School of Design, Yunnan University of Arts, China. Since 2024, she has been collaborating with Professor Christina Cogdell to treat local agricultural waste using local mycelium species, develop mycelial composite materials that are compatible with ethnic minority residential building practices, and preserve the natural scenery of traditional villages in Yunnan province.