Fungal Architecture

Until now, most of the building materials are derived from inorganic substances extracted from the ground. These resources are however limited and have a high impact on the climate. The rising demand for wood, which can be hard to meet, pushes many to look into the direction of other cultivated, regenerative resources and investigate their potential for the building industry. 

How will we build in the future? Can we GROW instead of BUILD?

This seminar aims to explore the possibilities of fabricating building elements from mycelium composites.

Mycelium is the vegetative part of fungi, composed of a dense, root-like, branching network, termed hyphae. When grown on the lignocellulosic substrate (for example wood or hemp chips), mycelium binds it together into a lightweight composite material with physical properties similar to hard foams or softwood. Mycelium composites are one of the few renewable materials, which allow for molding and are biodegradable. They open up new perspectives for the fabrication of free-form elements with the use of flexible formworks, lost formworks, or 3D printing. The use of regenerative materials as formworks or reinforcement (for example bamboo fibers, hemp textiles, or flax fibers) allows further customization of properties and forms of building elements, without losing their biodegradable characteristics.

During this seminar, students will have the opportunity to work in the Future Material Lab (IBK2's research facility in Filderstadt) on the cultivation of samples of mycelium material in a laboratory setting. Most of the seminar time will be dedicated to experiments on prototypical fabrication methods with mycelium: growing samples, building smaller and bigger models and mock-ups. This seminar is most suitable for students, who want to work hands-on with a living material and find out about challenges and opportunities.

Seminar work should be performed in groups of 2 to 3 students.
Depending on the pandemic situation, the seminar could be switched into digital teaching, with consultations on Webex and Conceptboard.

This seminar is planned with weekly in-person sessions, partly in a seminar room in K1 building and partly in Future Material Lab (FUMA) in Filderstadt.

Students, who want to enroll should do so on C@mpus (waiting list). If the number of interested students surpasses the limited places, a lottery will be applied.