Design practice Studio TOOJ‘s illusory Duk furniture series features hard, unmoving forms that look like draped cloth but are made of wood and mycelium.
The Duk – the Swedish word for ‘tablecloth’ – series was created in collaboration with biotech company MycoWorks, whose Reishi material puts the finishing touch on the furniture pieces.
The pieces were sculpted from wood and then upholstered with the leather-like living material, grown from the root structure of mushrooms.
Studio TOOJ created and showed the first piece in the collection, a floating corner table, in December 2024, and went on to launch a side table and pedestal in the same style at this year’s Milan design week.
Ashley Wilén-Jong, who founded Studio TOOJ with her partner Johan Wilén-Jong, explained that the series was born out of a fascination with illusion.
“I remember being captivated by surrealism as a teenager – especially the way Salvador Dalí could make familiar objects appear strange and dreamlike,” said Ashley Wilén-Jong. “That stayed with me.”
“Years later, the Duk series emerged from that same curiosity: How can we make something solid feel fluid? How can we create an object that makes people do a double-take?” she continued.
The duo didn’t have the Reishi material in mind when they designed the first piece, but once they started working with it, they found it became an essential part of the project.
“The illusion comes from the form itself — it’s carefully sculpted to mimic the folds and tension you’d see in real draping cloth,” said Johan Wilén-Jong. “That’s the core of the visual ambiguity we’re exploring.”
“Reishi then adds another layer of illusion,” he continued. “Its natural textures and matt softness make it feel almost textile-like, even though it’s a completely different kind of material. It blurs the boundary between soft and solid in a way that’s both playful and disorienting.”
Reishi is the flagship product of MycoWorks, which calls it “the best biomaterial on the planet”.
The company says that the material offers designers a high degree of control, since it is lab-grown using a process that allows the company to tailor its strength, feel and appearance.
“Unlike traditional leather, which requires the designer to adapt to the inherent limitations of animal hide – such as shape, thickness or surface imperfections – Reishi offers consistent quality and performance, enabling new possibilities for creativity and design,” said MycoWorks.
The Duk x Reishi collection was shown at the Milan store of perfumer Le Labo from 6 to 11 April. Alongside the series was another piece made from Reishi, a folding screen called the Mycelium Paravent by Fanny Perrier.
Studio TOOJ made its international debut at last year’s Milan design week at the annual Alcova group exhibition, where it showed a bright blue 3D-printed sand table.
The photography is by Felix Speller.
The Studio TOOJ x MycoWorks exhibition was on during Milan design week from 6 to 11 April 2025. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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