The subject of this research is growing mycelium-based composites and exploring their basic material properties. Since the building industry is responsible for a large amount of annual CO2 emissions, rethinking building materials is an important task for future practices. Using such composites is a carbon-neutral strategy that offers alternatives to conventional building materials. Yet, in order to become competitive, their basic research is still needed. In order to create mycelium-based composites, it was necessary to establish a sterile work environment and develop shaping procedures for objects on a scale of architectural building elements. The composite material exhibited qualities that make it suitable for compression-only structures, temporary assemblies, and acoustic and thermal insulation. The methodology includes evaluating several substrates, focused on beech sawdust, with two mycelium strains (Pleurotus ostreatus and Ganoderma lucidum), density calculations, compression tests, three-point flexural tests and capillary water absorption. The results of this study are presented through graphical and numerical values comparing material and mechanical properties. This study established a database for succeeding investigations and for defining the potentials and limitations of this material. Furthermore, future applications and relevant examinations have been addressed.

In this paper we will demonstrate a digital workflow that includes a living material such as mycelium and makes the creation of structural designs possible. Our interdisciplinary research combines digital manufacturing with the use of mycelial growth, which enables fibre connections on a microscopic scale. We developed a structure that uses material informed toolpaths for paste-based extrusion, which are built on the foundation of experiments that compare material properties and growth observations. Subsequently, the tensile strength of 3D printed unfired clay elements was increased by using mycelium as an intelligently oriented fibre reinforcement. Assembling clay-mycelium composites in a living state allows force-transmitting connections within the structure. This composite has exhibited structural properties that open up the possibility of its implementation in the building industry. It allows the design and efficient manufacturing of lightweight ceramic constructions customised to this composite, which would not have been possible using conventional ceramics fabrication methods.

This research was carried out to develop a novel composite material consisting of a thread reinforcement and a clay matrix, as well as to develop a method of shaping this material into hollow spatial structures. Ceramic elements in the building industry are currently created by applying extruding, pressing and casting methods. The approach of spraying clay onto predefined knitted meshes increases the usability of digitally fabricated lightweight ceramic elements, while eliminating the need for scaffolding. In this approach, multiple layers of a fluid clay mass are sprayed onto the tensioned mesh using an industrial, six-axis robotic arm. This allows the precise application of the material and results in varying material thicknesses. Due to the complementary qualities of clay which absorbs compressive forces and threads which absorb tensile forces, lightweight structures can be created. The research involved experimenting with clay mixtures, several thread types, knitting methods and spraying techniques, as well as fabricating a 1:1 lightweight module as an architectural prototype.

In Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), early design decisions have great impact. Sketching is a fast and immediate early design tool and means of communication. Communication with other professionals is challenging, because of varying professional languages.We propose a novel integrative sketching application to improve communication. Our application uses mixed reality interaction to allow sketching directly into 3D space, capture the process as temporal data, utilise animation in form-finding. We describe an exemplary workflow that integrates parametric geometry generation and digital manufacturing domain expert feedback into the early design phase of sketching via real-time data exchange.The workflow is evaluated by architectural design experts. Our findings indicate that the immediate domain expert feedback coupled with the novel 4D freehand sketching approach is a highly proficient way of aiding design decisions and streamlining AEC processes, improving communication between designers and mathematicians.

The project "A living piece of architecture" is a conceptual design to thematize an intelligent architecture beyond smart homes. The starting point of this project was the observation that the use of evolutionary optimization algorithms, digital planning and fabrication processes end after completing the design and fabrication process. If these processes were also present during the life cycle of the built architecture, they would develop far greater benefits. In parametric design, processes such as daylight factor optimization to reduce energy consumption or structural optimization to reduce material in supporting structures are frequently used tools. Buildings are not fully optimized in every situation, since it is only possible to optimize towards energetic average values or a structural extreme condition and also because stresses and environmental influences constantly vary. A physical model of a utopian architecture, which is capable of displaying a process of life, was built to illustrate this proposal. The attribution of life is supposed to exceed a symbolic character. Simultaneously, a digital model is shown as an additional layer of information. The kinetic, photosensitive and adaptive model represents an architecture that constantly changes its morphology to adapt, not only to the environment, but also to human emotions. The shape, size and speed of adaptation are controlled by an evolutionary optimization algorithm. By this means it is possible to transfer biological criteria of life, such as physical irritability and growth, through tensile materials within a self-regulating system, into architecture.