How would you feel living in a building that is alive?
Life as material proposes using living and non-living natural materials for an architectural structure as a device with which to investigate our relationship to other species, a relationship that involves a degree of unpredictability of what it means to design and interact with experimental living materials applied in large-scale structures. The work aims to contribute on research of alternative materials for design, where we know that developing new materials and ways of building across scales can reduce environmental degradation. Yet new materials take time to enter production cycles, they need not only to be understood but also to be accepted by audiences [1, 2]. People have stronger, almost visceral reactions to living materials, sometimes feeling fear, or even disgust, matched other times by a reponsibility to care for them. But what does it mean, ethically and esthetically to design with living materials, to mother nature, as Neri Oxman proposed [7]? And (how) is this different from designing with non-living materials?
Life as Material is a collaborative artwork designed together with Cody Lukas that builds upon each of our previous work with living materials and shared interest on how transforming living matter across scales challenges diverse concepts of life and our relationship with the other (species, the environment). Consisting of three main components - algae-based bio-concrete, mycelium and kombucha SCOBY (short for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), the artwork has architectural-scale inviting audiences to experience and interact with these materials up-close, and to think together about the meaning, ethics and aesthetics of the unpredictability of designing with living materials, and being close to them, as an other. Life as material is made out of 99 bricks cast in shape made of bio-concrete or mycelium, and three large sheets of dried kombucha SCOBY.
Behind the materials:
Algae and shell-based bio-concrete: Created by a mixture of alginate powder, water and seashells. 45 of the bricks are made out of this bio-concrete. Various recipes were explored with different proportions of alginate, seashell and water. Six of the bricks contain also mycelium in small quantities. Concrete is one of the most broadly used building materials worldwide, yet it accounts for up to 8% of annual global carbon dioxide emissions, it is therefore important to research alternatives for it. Alginate is a naturally occurring, edible polysaccharide found in brown algae. The sea-shells were collected by Cody and Anca from Danish beaches during the last 8 months and later they were dried and crushed.
Mycelium is a root-like structure that forms the body of fungus. Fungi have long been associated with plants, but because they do not photosynthesise they comprise a distinct kingdom [5] situated somewhere between that of animals and plants. Mycelia can produce mushrooms, which represent the fruits of a fungus, are similar to the fruits of plants and has the role of collecting nutrients and water. Over the last 15 years, mycelium has been gaining popularity in architecture and design, as it has been shown it has the potential to replace some plastics such as polystyrene and even to be used as a leather alternative [3]. 30 of the bricks comprising Life as material are made of mycelium, more specifically, the Hedecopter strand developed by commercial company Kineko.bio [6]. A number of the mycelium bricks have been backed, thus stopping the mycelium growth, while the rest are left alive. Baking kills the mycelium, however the process is often used in mycelium-based products, as it helps them become more resistant to degradation and mould.
Kombucha SCOBY (also known as “vegan leather”: SCOBY is a living culture that grows and evolves by consuming sugar as fuel, which is mainly known today for its use in the fermentation process of making kombucha. Like other forms of bacteria, SCOBY is a living substance, and can therefore be removed from the kombucha and re-used to brew batch after batch. SCOBY can also be harvested, dried and molded into a form of vegan leather which is 100% biodegradable.
[1] Breen, A. The Future Is ... Fungi?: This Biotech Company Transforms Mushrooms Into Luxury Materials Used by Hermès. Entrepreneur, April 26. https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/the-future-isfungi-this-biotech-company-transforms/424237 (accessed: 17 August 2024). 2022.
[2] Camere S. and Karana E. Fabricating materials from living organisms: An emerging design practice, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 186, pp. 570-584. 2018.
[3] Grover, A. The Future is Fungal: Interview with Phil Ross. Glasstire. Texas visual art, September 8, https://glasstire.com/2012/09/08/the-future-is-fungal-interview-with-phil-ross/ (accessed: 17 August 2024). 2012.
[4] Kendrick, B. The Fifth Kingdom. Mycologue Publshing, Waterloo, Ont. 1985.
[5] Kineko.bio. https://www.kineco.bio/ (accessed 1.12.2024). 2024.
[6] McGaw J., Andrianopoulos A., Liuti A. Tangled Tales of Mycelium and Architecture: Learning From Failure, Frontiers in Built Environment, vol. 8, 2022.
[7] Oxman N. Neri Oxman: On architecture, femininity, feminism, and breaking down barriers. https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/neri-oxman-on-architecture-femininity-feminism-and-breaking-down-barriers/ (Accessed 1.12.2024). 2018.
Text by: Anca Horvath, Cody Lukas, Oscar Vium Kristensen and Hugo Brønnum Jensen
Edited by: Anca Horvath, Elizabeth Jochum, Andrea Tesanovic, Jonas Jørgensen and Cody Lukas
mycelium, alginate and shell brick
mycelium bricks
mycelium brick detail
different types of bricks
