
Living Forms
DATE
2020
TYPE
Architectural Research
TEAM
Christyasto Priyonggo Pambudi, Chia Pei Zhi, Dhileep Kumar Jayashankar, Quek Yu Han, Christine Yogiaman, Kenneth Tracy
COLLABORATORS
Mycotech Lab
Living Forms explores the digital design and manufacture of sustainable architectural scale building blocks using mycelium as a natural bio-composite. It taps on the cultivation of mycelium as a natural network of interwoven hyphae filaments that fuse with a permeable sacrificial knitted formwork. This increases the mechanical performance of the resultant bio-composite, making it viable as an alternative building material.
The digital design-to-fabrication workflow for Living Forms was calibrated to accommodate the biological and growth procedures specific to mycelium composites. Using a combination of pre-fabricated standard aluminum frames and 3D knitted permeable molds, the project developed a growth infrastructure that minimizes the customization of complex molds while allowing for geometric freedom. To demonstrate the architectural potential of this material, the team fabricated two architectural scale branching unit types that can be repeated to form a 3-meter tall mycelium composite column.
Living Forms was funded and supported by the SUTD-MIT International Design Center.
Further reading:
Yogiaman, C., Pambudi, C.P., Budi, R., Ajidarma, E. and Tracy, K. (2020). Cultivating Knitted Mycelium Composite Assembly. 4th International Conference for Biodigital Architecture & Genetics.
Yogiaman, C., Pambudi, C.P., Jayashankar, D.K., Chia, P.Z., Quek, Y.H. and Tracy, K. (2020). Knitted Bio-Material Assembly. In: ACADIA 2020: Distributed Proximities, 24-30 Oct 2020, Virtual conference.