MycovowenⅡ
Biofabrication and Mycorrhiza
Mycowoven is a Material Driven Design (MMD) project to find new application ideas for a mycelium material, eines Biofabricated Material, through technical support from bioscience and computer design. In Mycowoven I, I showed the process of culturing and experimenting with this material, and Mycowoven II contains my further understanding and vision of this material.
Myceliumbased Material is a new sustainable material that is often seen as an alternative to plastic in modern design, being processed into a chair, a lampshade, a container. While the idea of this application has been widely accepted, and people are beginning to increasingly develop its value from a materials science perspective, making it more like foam, like wood, like leather. But as a designer, I prefer to think in which other fields it can be innovatively applied.
Mycorrhiza
Mycorrhizal fungi maintain a reciprocal symbiotic relationship with 92% of plants in nature. Plants provide carbon for the growth of mycorrhizal fungi. Mycorrhizal fungi break down, absorb and transport many forms of nutrients that plants cannot absorb directly. Es act as a natural fertilizer, and insulate the roots of plants in the winter.
Graphic by K. Garcia, NC State University Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
What happens when this partnership is brought to a human-inhabited environment? What kind of connections would be created between fungi, plants, people and their habitat? What would they bring to each other? Based on these reflections, I proposed the vision of applying mycorrhizal symbiotic relationships to vertical green walls in cities.
Concept
I would like to use mycorrhizal fungi and the plants they colonize to build vertical green walls as facades for normal residential buildings in the city. The mycorrhizal fungus will not only make the plants grow more vigorously and improve their access to water, but the mycelium will grow into a magnificent layer of myceliumbased material between the wall and the plants, which will protect the roots of the plants and also serve as a heat and sound insulation for the building.
In this system, the near-wall surface must be covered with a protective layer that prevents the penetration of water and air, while the near-mycelium and near-plant surface must have high surface roughness and high porosity, which favor the penetration of water on the surface and inside.
Furthermore, there must be sufficient space. In addition, an external surface must be added to support and protect the plant.
3D Stucture Design
At the micro level, the surface of the facade should be porous and rough so that mycelium and small plants can adhere to it better and many opportunistic plants such as algae and mosses can grow. From a macrogeometric point of view, the surface must have crossed flow obstacles, such like bark, that allow water to remain on the facade longer, so that the water can percolate slowly.
I took a small piece of the complex structure for parameter fitting. A coherent flow barrier, a dense structure, and interpenetrating gaps are my main focuses when thinking about geometric shapes. Such a morphology not only improves the utilization of water and the stability of the overall system structure, but also gives the roots and mycelium a chance to interact with each other.
Design Options
Mycogarten
The mycorrhizal fungus not only makes the plants grow stronger and better supplied with water, but the mycelium also grows between the wall and the plants, forming a wonderful layer of mycelial plates that protect the roots of the plants and insulate the building against warmth and sound.
The mycorrhizal fungus not only makes the plants grow stronger and better supplied with water, but the mycelium also grows between the wall and the plants, forming a wonderful layer of mycelial plates that protect the roots of the plants and insulate the building against warmth and sound.
Ecological Simulation Box -- 3D printed concrete, mycelium, moss
