Philip Ross is a mycologist who studies the various possibilities of using fungi. He is responsible for the innovative discovery of using mushrooms as an alternative building material. The specialist found that mycelium—a network of thin fibers that mushrooms form underground—is highly resistant when dry and can be used to create a strong building material that is resistant to fire, water, and mold.
Mycelium can be grown and molded into various shapes, allowing it to be formed into building blocks similar to traditional bricks. Furthermore, it is a 100% organic and compostable material with a strength that surpasses concrete. "It [mycelium] has the potential to be a replacement for many petroleum-based plastics," Ross told the website Glasstire.
The mycologist patented a process for structuring these bricks, which can be assembled to create sturdy walls and residential structures.
Hy-Fi, the Mushroom Brick Tower
The material caught the attention of the architecture firm The Living, which decided to use these organic, mushroom-based bricks to build Hy-Fi, a temporary tower at MoMA PS1, an American institution dedicated to contemporary art.
The bricks used in the 2014 project were a variation of Ross's work, patented by the biomaterials company Ecovative. Also made from organic material, the bricks were used to build the structure, which was featured in MoMA's Young Architects Program. At the end of the two-month exhibition, the tower was dismantled and the bricks were sent to composting facilities, following their organic lifecycle.
Hy-Fi was the first structure built with this material, and despite its temporary nature, it proved the viability of using fungal materials in construction. As a result, Ecovative continues to develop and work with the material.
Hy-Fi, a torre de tijolos orgânicos, é inaugurada no MoMA PS1
Private preview of this summer's Warm-Up installation at @MoMAPS1 #HyFi #theliving pic.twitter.com/jtYy6Cmk7I - jackiecaradonio (@jackiecaradonio) June 27, 2014 Foi inaugurada recentemente, no MoMA PS1 em Nova Iorque, a estrutura de tijolos orgânicos conhecida como " Hy-Fi".
Via CicloVivo
This article was written by Emily Santos. The translation is powered by AI.
