Challenges and Opportunities in Scaling up Architectural Applications of Mycelium-Based Materials with Digital Fabrication

Abstract

In an increasing effort to address the environmental challenges caused by the currently linear economic paradigm of “produce, use, and discard”, the construction industry has been shifting towards a more circular model. A circular economy requires closing of the loops, where the end-of-life of a building is considered more carefully, and waste is used as a resource. In comparison to traditional building materials such as timber, steel and concrete, mycelium-based materials are renewable alternatives that use organic agricultural and industrial waste as a key ingredient for production, and do not rely on mass extraction or exploitation of valuable finite or non-finite resources. Mycelium-based materials have shown their potential as a more circular and economically competitive alternative to conventional synthetic materials in numerous industries ranging from packaging, electronic prototyping, furniture, fashion to architecture. However, application of mycelium-based materials in the construction industry has been limited to small-scale prototypes and architectural installations due to low mechanical properties, lack of standardisation in production methods and material characterisation. This paper aims to review the current state of the art in research and applications of mycelium-based materials across disciplines, with a particular focus on digital methods of fabrication, production, and design. The information gathered from this review will be synthesised to identify key challenges in scaling up applications of mycelium-based materials as load-bearing structural elements in architecture and suggest opportunities and directions for future research.

An experimental study on production opportunities of biocomposite by using fungal mycelium

“…At the architectural scale, it includes large assembly applications with the gathered individual modules. (Bitting et al, 2022).…”

“…Products produce oxygen throughout life by using mycelium material. In addition to minimum energy use in the production process, the products are also considered very substantial in terms of being fully recyclable after completing their useful life (Attias et al, 2020;Bitting et al 2022;Elbasdı, 2016). The picture of the example is shown in Figure 4.…”

“…Therefore, the discovery of new alternative materials that are not only naturally grown and harvested, but also produced through developable processes that can be reused in waste streams and have reusability and recyclability at the end of the life cycle becomes important. (Bitting et al,2022;Heisel & Rau-Oberhuber, 2020).…”

“…Myceliums are chitin-based biopolymers that can bind food, agricultural and industrial wastes with little or no commercial value and transform them into high-value composite materials with a wide variety of applications. (Bitting et al,2022).…”

“…In addition, publications on new research and applications of mycelium-based materials prone to store data on the types of fungi used, incubation parameters, feedstock compositions, and detailed production procedures. The scarcity of generalized knowledge; makes it difficult for users to be aware of the existence of these materials and to trust large-scale applications (Attias et al, 2020;Bitting et al,2022;Jones et al, 2020).…”