Week 1 HW: Final Project Ideas
HTBAA Homework #1
1. What would you like to biomanufacture and why?
I would like to explore the biomanufacturing of a three-dimensional bio-fabric that could be used in fashion, architecture, furniture, or installations.
My background is in interior architecture and design, and I am interested in materials that are not static but can grow, transform, and respond to their environment. Instead of treating biological materials only as sustainable alternatives to conventional materials, I want to explore them as active systems that can carry traces of growth, interaction, and time.
The final material could have different textures, densities, and structural properties depending on how it is grown or fabricated. I am interested in whether a bio-fabric could become a material that exists and changes alongside humans rather than simply surrounding them.
2. What living system could make it?
I would begin by exploring mycelium as the primary living system, while also investigating algae and other microbial systems as possible alternatives or complementary systems.
Mycelium is particularly interesting because it can grow through a plant-based substrate and form interconnected structures. I would like to investigate how its growth conditions, substrate, density, and geometry could affect the properties of the resulting material.
Algae and other microorganisms could also be explored for producing bio-based materials, coatings, or bioplastics.
At this stage, I do not want to assume that one biological system will work best. I would like to compare different systems through experimentation and understand what kinds of material behaviors each system can produce.
3. How could automation help you make it?
I would like to combine digital fabrication with biological growth.
Grasshopper could be used to generate and modify complex three-dimensional geometries and to explore different patterns, densities, and structures. A 3D printer or robotic fabrication system could potentially be used to deposit a suitable bio-based substrate or material according to these geometries.
I do not yet know which biological material, printing method, or machine settings would work best. Instead of assuming a fixed process, I would like to use automation as part of the research and experiment with how digital geometry, fabrication parameters, and biological growth can influence each other.
4. What would it take to make it at a meaningful scale?
(a) How much?
For an initial prototype, I would aim to produce approximately 1 m² of bio-fabric, with a thickness of around 5–10 mm.
This would be large enough to evaluate its texture, flexibility, density, surface quality, and basic structural behavior.
At a larger scale, I would eventually aim to produce approximately 10–100 m² of material for architectural or spatial applications.
(b) How long?
As an initial estimate, I would allocate approximately 4–6 weeks for one prototype cycle.
This could include preparing the substrate, inoculation and growth, forming or printing, drying or stabilization, and basic stress testing.
The actual duration is still uncertain because it would depend strongly on the biological system, growth conditions, substrate, and fabrication method.
At a larger scale, the main challenge would be developing a repeatable process that could produce consistent material properties while maintaining the biological aspects of the system.
5. What don’t you know yet?
My biggest unknowns are:
Material: Can mycelium produce a material with enough flexibility, strength, and durability for architectural, furniture, or wearable applications?
Fabrication: Can biological materials or their substrates be deposited, printed, or otherwise shaped into complex three-dimensional structures?
Growth and geometry: How does the geometry of a structure affect biological growth? Can digital fabrication be used to guide or constrain that growth?
Automation: Which parts of the process can realistically be automated, and which parts need to remain adaptive or controlled by biological growth?
Material behavior: How do growth, drying, density, and environmental conditions change the final properties of the material?
Scale: How can a process developed at a small prototype scale be translated into a larger and repeatable manufacturing system?
I do not know the answers to these questions yet. I would approach the project through iterative experiments, comparing biological systems, substrates, geometries, growth conditions, and fabrication methods.
Initial Research Direction
My initial direction is to investigate the relationship between biological growth and digital fabrication.
Rather than simply replacing a conventional material with a biological one, I am interested in whether the manufacturing process itself can become part of the material’s design.
This raises a broader question:
Can a material be digitally designed while still allowing biological growth to shape its final form? ? ?