Posted on

Fungal Architectures arts exhibition

Fungal Architectures arts exhibition. December 2021. The Island, Bristol, UK.

Contributors:
Irina Petrova Adamatzky
Andy Adamatzky
Anna Nikolaidou
Neil Phillips
Nic Roberts
Antonio Gandia

Featuring:
A. pantherina
Auricularia auricula-judae
Ganoderma lucida
Ganoderma lucidum
Irandus adamatzkis
Irandella fugium
L. gentianeus
Mycena stipata
P. ostreatus
P. polycephalum
Polyporus squamosus

Posted on

Generated Kagome Morphologies

Generated Kagome weave

As part of our goal to develop new construction approaches to mycelium-based composites, we’re exploring the topology of kagome weaves. These complex weaves can act as in-place moulds and structural reinforcements for the mycelium. Furthermore, a kagome scaffold allows us to explore more intricate architectural forms that support a desired computational goal. Here, we showcase some recent advancements in the automatic generation of principled kagome topology given an arbitrary target morphology.

Animation of individual weavers travelling across the base morphology
Turntable of one iteration of a randomly generated Kagome weave

Automating the generation of kagome scaffolds enables us to insert it into an iterative process where the environmental, computational, spatial, and fungal objectives for the architecture loop back into the design definition and morph it to a multidimensional optimum.

Posted on

Fungal Architectures exhibit at the ‘70% Less’ exhibition

We are delighted to have been selected to exhibit at the ‘70% Less CO2 – conversion to a viable age’ exhibition, held at the Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen. Our exhibit is organised around four thematics related to on-going research enquiries within the project. These are:
1) Constituents
2) Composites
3) Computation
4) Constructions

1. Constituents – what are mycelium-based materials and what are they composed of?
2. Composites – how can we tune the properties of mycelium composites? Here, we showcase work in the structuring of substrates using orientated fibres to produce anisotropic designs.
3. Computation – how do we sense and compute with living mycelium and mycelium-based composites?
4. Construtions – what new construction approaches do mycelium -based materials suggest? Here, we demonstrate our approach using Kagome weaves composed of synthetic and organic materials that act as stay-in-place moulds and reinforcements.

The exhibition is open from 07.10.2021 – 14.01.2022, every week day from 1000-1700. Admission is free. For more details, see here.

Visit the exhibition virtually here

Posted on

FUNGAR featured on SPARK, CBC (Canada)

Why fungi could be the future of environmentally sustainable building materials

As the construction industry struggles to deal with its impact on the climate, a new crop of people with big ideas are looking for alternative materials to build with.

Phil Ayres (CITA / KADK), an architect and associate professor of architecture in Copenhagen, says the future of building materials might not be high tech polymers or specialty metals — but mushrooms.  

Ayres joined Spark host Nora Young to discuss how he and his team are looking at how mycelium — the fibrous network that exists underneath a fungus — might be used as an environmentally sustainable building material.

Podcast page here – find the podcast under 466: Living Buildings
Streaming option here