Fungi-based materials (myco-materials) have been celebrated and experimented with for their architectural and structural potential for over a decade. This paper describes research applied to assembly strategies for growing large building units and assembling them into efficiently formed wall prototypes. A major concern in the development of these two fabrication strategies is to design re-usable formwork systems. La Parete Fungina demonstrates two undulating wall units standing side-by-side, each composed of seventeen myco-welded slabs. L’Orso Fungino revisits the in situ monolithic fabric forming of units that are repeated, stacked, and post-tensioned. Although the design and research presented in this paper focuses on overcoming the challenges of growing large-scale building components, this work also touches on issues of accessibility and technology, economic and logistical systems needed for building-scale applications, and material ethics of energy and waste associated with emerging biomaterial production.

This paper presents research on a rule-based approach to designing creative acoustic diffuser arrays. A shape grammar-influenced design method is specified that uses shape rules to recursively design arrays of quadratic residue diffusers (QRD) in a way that is neither mechanical nor deterministic. Shape grammar-based generative systems have already been shown to be capable of being used in architecture and engineering to create languages of functional objects but have not yet been extended into the realm of acoustics. The grammar presented by this paper produces a QRD-based acoustic diffusion language that breaks habits in QRD deploying techniques, which is lacking outside of using known equations that give known forms. The grammar can include different design frequencies and open the possibilities of different and non-uniform, intentional diffusion treatment. This paper will specify and demonstrate the formation rules, and discuss on how in combination with material specifications, this design method can generate broadband QRD arrays that address both performative and aesthetic criteria in new and surprising ways.

Architectural acoustics has not traditionally had unified design methods that specify acoustical performance, visual appearance, and sustainable material selection, leading to underperforming products that contribute to a waste stream of petro-chemical foam and fiberglass materials. The evolution of design, materials, and manufacturing techniques in recent years has created new opportunities to reimagine acoustic diffusers and absorbers. Previous work by the authors have demonstrated a unifying framework for design and collaboration in architectural acoustics. The framework uses visually-driven computational design method inspired by shape grammars that generate a wide range of acoustic phase grating diffuser arrays that display unique visual and performative qualities. Simulation and evaluation metrics to assess the complexity of each design are rated in terms of their diffusion and absorption coefficients and a visual aesthetic coefficient. This paper extends the framework to include digital fabrication protocols and sustainable material specifications - including the use of fungi-based materials. Built prototypes demonstrate an expanded acoustic design space that gives acousticians the potential to create custom diffuser shapes with precise acoustical response. The innovative combination of computational design methods and sustainable fabrication protocols will be discussed, and the acoustic properties of arrays will be evaluated and compared to simulations of corresponding designs.

This paper proposes a means of evaluating arrays of quadratic residue diffusers (QRDs) generated through a grammar-based generative design method. Design processes for architectural acoustics are often highly conventional: acoustical designers have preferred to use historical examples, known equations, and standard principles of performative success. This is particularly true for surface treatments using diffuser products that are aggregated in ways that perform sufficiently but are visually predictable and monolithic. In the first phase of this project, a shape grammar approach to design acoustic diffuser arrays was proposed as a means of addressing the issue of design homogeneity in architectural acoustics and to break current habits of uniform deployment of diffusion treatments in spaces. A set of shape rules were proposed that generate non-uniform and sometimes surprising arrays of QRDs. This paper aims to expand demonstrate phase two, which includes the following: (1) clarification and further development of shaper grammar rules, (2) proposal of initial methods to evaluate the acoustic performance of these arrays, and (3) calculation of quantitative metrics. Numerical simulations will show time and directivity responses for these shape grammar generated diffuser arrays. Furthermore, diffusion and scattering coefficients will be presented as well as other proposed evaluation metrics for these larger arrays.

This paper presents several new results for on-going efforts in combining computational design methods and acoustical needs. Past investigations employed rule-based design strategies that expanded upon current monolithic deployment of quadratic residue diffusers (QRD) in the field. The algorithm generated novel, and visually diverse arrays of N = 7 QRD panels. The arrays generated visually strayed from the typical appearance of QRD arrays; appearing more expressive as rules were applied. Furthermore, evaluation metrics including a visual complexity coefficient and 3-D polar plots from PML-FEM simulations provided visual evidence that a relationship exists between the appearance of an array and its corresponding acoustical response. Building on this previous work, representative arrays generated by the output of the algorithms with expanded parameters will be presented alongside updated evaluation metrics. The algorithm uses an expanded set of simulation-validated rules that include non-square grid configurations, multiple design frequencies, a varying number of wells, and incorporate zones of absorption. These new arrays, along with results and discussion of acoustical response to these rules, will be presented. Using these expanded parameters absorption, field of room acoustics design is opened up to wide-ranging visual design possibilities that are fully cooperative and incorporated with the acoustic response.