Bottle X
HOME:GROWN MYCELIUM, FALL '21
IN COLLABORATION WITH POLEN GUZELOCAK
Mycelium composite is a promising alternative material for thermal, acoustic, and fire safety performance applications. However, mycelium requires production of a mold in order to shape it, which ironically creates a lot of waste for such a sustainable material. The material study investigates a modular design out of mycelium, which minimizes waste as well as allows for adaptability.
As a solution to this, the project proposes the use of used plastic bottles and recycled 3D filament as the materials for the mold. The module is made up of 4 bottles and the filament is used to produce the joint that connects the bottles in order to create the cross form. After use, the mold can be re-used for further reproduction and recycled.
The cross form of the module allows for multiple configurations. One configuration is the randomization, where the cross modules can be stacked randomly into a form and be connected through metal wires. The second configuration is when the cross is orthogonally organized with a more specific joint design. One possibility that is explored here is the mortise and tenon joint. This method especially favors one type of bottle form where the bottom of the bottle is wide enough to accommodate the top of the bottle, which is much smaller. So when the middle of the cross where the bottom of the four bottes are connected, can be drilled and create the mortise.
Skeletal Shrooms
HOME:GROWN MYCELIUM, FALL '21
IN COLLABORATION WITH POLEN GUZELOCAK
Mycelium composite is a promising alternative material for thermal, acoustic, and fire safety performance applications. However, mycelium composite is not a structural material without a skeletal frame. Thus, an adaptive lattice structure system is proposed as a light-weight and porous structural component that can host mycelium composite material. The study of lattice structures led to an initial test of a triply periodic minimal surface as a prototype. This form developed into a Voronoi exoskeleton in imitation of the structural growth of mycelium.
When assembled into an aggregation, individual components of formwork and mycelium composite fuse together into a monolithic whole through the production of chitin. Mycelium composite grants the opportunity to join separate formworks upon the addition of nutrients for further mycelium growth. These aggregations, using six and five-sided forms, can be adopted for arches, domes, and wall assemblies.
While the bottom of each block is secured for mycelium connectivity to neighboring units, the top is reserved for mushroom growth. The living materials digest themselves at the project end, rendering the cellulosic materials bioavailable. What is not eaten is composted, returning valuable organic matter back to the local ecosystem, and the skeleton remains to renew the life cycle of structural digestion.