Future Materials: The Architecture of Biocomposites
Future Materials: The Architecture of Biocomposites
Architecture is born from materials. Between structure, light, movement, and comfort, materials profoundly shape our experiences. But materials also change over time, new ones are created, and a wide range of assemblies and construction techniques are introduced. Increasingly, architects and designers are looking into the possibilities of composite materials made with natural elements.
While composite materials have been around for a long time, so too have biocomposites. By definition, a biocomposite is a material composed of two or more distinct constituent materials (one being naturally derived) which are combined to yield a new one. This new material may have improved performance over individual constituent materials, and is categorized as either structural and nonstructural. Biocomposites can also become high-performance engineering products made from natural resources. The following articles and projects explore the future of these materials both functionally and aesthetically.
Fungi are everywhere. In the air, in the water, in our bodies, in the trees, in the ceilings of our bathrooms, underground. They can be mushrooms (edible, medicinal, hallucinogenic, or very poisonous), or take other simpler forms, such as molds. They can trigger illnesses, but they can also produce antibiotic remedies, or help ferment cheeses and breads. Could they also be the future of building materials?
In architecture we are so caught up in creating something new, we often forget about what happens at the end of a building’s life cycle—the unfortunate, inevitable demolition. With clever design and a better awareness of the biodegradable materials available in construction, it’s up to us as architects to make the right decisions for the entirety of a building’s lifetime.
For industrial biotechnology, fungi like yeast are commonly used catalysts for bioprocesses such as beer brewing or bakery. Yet, there is more that fungi are capable of. In nature, the fungal kingdom represents the most abundant group of organisms bearing various important roles such as degrading dead organic matter, delivering nutrients to plants, detoxifying soil and purifying water from heavy metals.
Neri Oxman and MIT have developed programmable water-based biocomposites for digital design and fabrication. Named Aguahoja, the project has exhibited both a pavilion and a series of artifacts constructed from molecular components found in tree branches, insect exoskeletons, and our own bones. It uses natural ecosystems as inspiration for a material production process that produces no waste.
Arup and GXN Innovation have been awarded with the JEC Innovation Award in the construction category for their development of the world’s first self-supporting biocomposite facade panel. Developed as part of the €7.7 million EU-funded BioBuild program, the design reduces the embodied energy of facade systems by 50% compared to traditional systems with no extra cost in construction.
Hy-Fi offers a captivating physical environment and a new paradigm for sustainable architecture. In 2014, the design team tested and refined a new low-energy biological building material, manufactured 10,000 compostable bricks, constructed a 13-meter-tall tower, hosted public cultural events for three months, disassembled the structure, composted the bricks, and returned the resulting soil to local community gardens.
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: The Future of Construction Materials. Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and projects. Learn more about our ArchDaily topics. As always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.