An investigation on growth behavior of mycelium-based material in a fabric formwork

Integrating design studios and laboratories have increasingly become a new practice realm for designers, which provide them with the opportunity of conducting experimental studies on material technologies. Proposing a working environment promoting research, prototyping, fabrication, experimentation, testing and analysis of material systems in the field of design has incorporated living organisms into material design processes. Embedded physical workspace for designers enables to experiment both of living organisms and material systems, thus providing a deeper understanding of how the mechanisms of living organisms work. The main objective of the experimental methods expressing biological growth procedures is to understand its structure as well as to exploit relations which could be adapted to a different context. Bio-based materials with generative potentials offer broad use in functional, structural performance and form generation within architecture. What we call bio-based material is herein defined as: "a material of which one or more of its components are sustainably grown". Latest studies in bio-based material design depict that the vegetative part of a fungus consisting of a network of fine white filaments, the mycelium, could be an alternative for composites which composed of a ductile matrix and high-strength reinforcement. Since most progress in designing mycelium-based material to date has been made by using petri dish and 3d printed geometries. In this thesis, shaping and re-shaping capabilities of mycelium-based materials using fabric formwork is discussed. This study is the result of a series of experiments about mycelium-based material that aims to investigate its re-shaping potentials by using adjustable mold. In this thesis, we aim to make a comparison between initial and end shapes of casted material by implementing digital and analogue tools based on mycelium-based fabric formwork experiment. The formwork enables the designer to manipulate the boundary conditions of the fabric mold. The physical experiment setup consists of different initial geometry alternatives and the deformation is observed and measured numerically by time-based recording on top and section views. With the help of digital tools, experiments were documented as a process of formation. We aim to discuss the potential of the usage of mycelium as a binding agent in free form geometry since mycelium acts as natural self-assembling glue. By doing so, structural potentials of the material, which is strengthened by mycelium hyphae, were examined. To analyze the mycelium-based material, which refers to a material which takes form under certain conditions, shaped by fabric formwork two different approaches were followed. The first approach is to keep the initial geometry defined by digital design tools of the fabric formwork fixed and to determine the resulting analogue shape from elastic deformation. The second approach is to keep the final analogue geometry fixed then to find the closest fit solution possible within a fabric formwork. The author aims to discuss the potential of the usage of mycelium as a binding agent in free form geometry since mycelium acts as a natural self-assembling glue. By doing so, structural properties of the material, which is strengthened by mycelium hyphae, will be examined. Creating lightweight, sustainable, pollution-free, buoyant, insulant and free-form geometries are one of the primary outputs. All in all, this study aims to contribute to the design research studies and scientific knowledge together to integrate living systems into the material design as encouraging collaborative interdisciplinary research, thereby positioning designer as a decision-maker from the very beginning of material design process.