MycowovenⅠ
Material driven Design for Biofabrication and Computational Design
The problems caused by conventional petroleum-based plastics and the associated high consumption of energy and resources are becoming increasingly apparent. The economy and industry have long sought alternative materials for a more sustainable production process.
The quest for sustainability and an ecological approach is leading designers to use the by-Products of living systems as materials in architecture, industrial production, and the fashion industry. Looking at the accelerated convergence of Bio-Computation with the emergent Material Age, it is easy to observe the contemporary merge among technologies, such as biology, digital computation, material science, and traditional mechanics. The intersection between Computational Design and material systems is quickly becoming a new design language, fostered by the potential expressed through additive fabrication techniques.
My design is a Material Driven Design (MMD) that is supported by technologies from bioscience and computational design to find new application ideas for the mycelium-based material. By working closely with other non-human living systems, designers have access to more novel design tools than ever before. Through my design, I want to show what new requirements, aesthetics and Advance in Design the biomaterial with digital manufacturing could bring forth and how that can respond to the environment.
Myceliumbased Material and Biofabrication

Mycelium is the vegitative part of fungi, consisting of a network of white threads. 
Myceliumbased material is a material formed from fungal mycelium and its organic food solid structure, which is allowed to grow into various forms. And this method of producing materials is called Biofabrication.
In Design fields, "biofabrication" can be simply defined as:
A microorganism or living cell "factory" produces an ingredient or material through some basic physiological activity, such as fermentation, where the organism or cell itself is not intended to be part of the final product. The living "factory" can include bacteria, yeast, algae, mycelium and in some cases mammalian cells.
Mycelium Culture Lab
Mycelium-based bio composite is the starting point for my research on bio fabrication and digital manufacturing. In order to have an in-depth understanding of this material, I have designed the following material experiments.
1. Split
 I cut the moulds used for cultivation into two pieces and let the mycelium assemble the model into a whole through growth. At locations with higher levels of oxygen and moisture (e.g., inside and at the bottom), the mycelium grows thicker and takes on a soft, foamy texture. In the experiments, the mycelial material showed good self-healing and self-organization.
2. Folding
I fold the material and expect the mycelium to sew the edges itself, making the folded structure more and more stable. In this way, the transition from flat to three-dimensional geometry is completed, and mycelium can grow in three dimensions.
3D Printing and Mushroom

To create a breathable and humidified growth skeleton for it, I used 3D printing techniques. By using Growlay and FDM 3D printers (Ultimaker 3), I was able to verify some of my assumptions about the structure quickly. Growlay is an experimental 3D printing filament that offers some plant seeds or fungi with nutrients to colonize them. Growlay is made of cellulose particles, which provide nutriment for mycelium, a water-soluble synthetic polymer (PVA) and a backbone polymer. The Ultimaker3 is a dual nozzle 3d printer, allowing designers to print growlay together with other materials, such as transparent PLA or wood. In this way, the mycelium material can be combined with other materials. The growth of the mycelium material can also be controlled more precisely and used for a specific structure or to reproduce specific patterns.
Experiments have shown that the mycelium grows better in structures with greater porosity when sufficient nutrients are available. Cultivating this material directly on the 3D printed Growlay saves time compared to the conventional way of printing substrates. In addition, Growlay is more malleable, which can expand the freedom of printed shapes.
After drying
Original, that is made of Growlay
14 days after
14 days after
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