Unterdecken-Bio : mycelium as building system, between design iterations and living mockups
“Unterdecken-BIO” explores the foundations of the bio-based materials paradigm for architecture and building design, working on use of mycelium as a potential material for architectural buildings. The integration of Mycelium materials into buildings comes with many challenges related to durability, material performance, production requirements, and public acceptance. Such challenges are an opportunity to redefine the design of a building around new spatial constructs that question the relationship between structural and ornamental elements.
Through a series of 1:20 living makeups of prototypical buildings, we will look into specific wood building frames and design the integration of mycelium components, showing a potential design material hybridization and separation of the main structural building systems. Such design endeavors represent an opportunity to dissolve the structural boundary and towards the creation of novel ornamental surfaces and secondary membranes based on Mycelial materials.
“Unterdecke-BIO” is a group Fokus work part of the AAA Experiments – Ai, Art and Architecture initiative. The initiative brings diverse departments of the ETH Zurich to the Kunsthalle Zurich. For a semester, the Kunsthalle becomes a space of experimentation and education and a prototype for a different kind of school or institution that prepares us for the work of the future. AAA Experiments course program is the message, and artistic, playful experimentation is reminiscent of the freedom of science and research.
Unterdecken def. : Refers in this context to the design of suspended ceilings, non-load-bearing parts of ceilings that are installed under the existing ceiling OR UNDER THE STRUCTURAL PART OF A BUILDING using a substructure.
Focus Works (Vertiefungsarbeiten) at the Chair of Digital Building Technologies is an opportunity to explore topics computational design, digital fabrication, new material and processes. The work is generally connected to one of the ongoing research/projects carried out at the Chair, or it can be based on a topic directly proposed by the student. Focus works can be taken at any time. The aim of a Focus Work is the pursuit of the following objectives: a. find an independent research question b. explore different design and theoretical scenarios, c. develop appropriate answers in a scientific context.
APPLY
The experimental work will be carried out in the BFL- Bio-fabrication Lab in HIB-Hönggberger ETH. A Background in Architectural design or Civil Engineering is with a strong interest into architectural and computational design, physical models and material main. Students should be motivated, proactive and available to work in a team environment. Interested candidates, please send a one-page CV + short portfolio to derme@arch.ethz.ch
