Woven Growth Mycelium: A project featuring knitted architecture using ropes and mycelium

In the United States, the construction industry produces approximately 600 million tons of waste each year, with majority of that waste coming from demolition (US EPA, n.d.). Additionally, the manufacturing of new construction materials uses high levels of nonrenewable fossil fuels and creates high levels of carbon emissions, which can have negative impacts on the surrounding environment. Mycelium has the potential to replace traditional building materials and doing so will reduce our carbon footprint and construction waste from sites. Currently, we are aware of mycelium’s environmental benefits and material characteristics. However, mycelium is often manufactured using unsustainable methods, such as plastic and metal casts. Additionally, many previously completed projects using plastic casts do not take the natural growth patterns of mycelium into consideration. This synthesis project will combine macrame with mycelium to create a new design framework for flexible and knitted architecture, through material explorations with mycelium and rope to de-cast the mycelium design process. When compared to traditional architecture, these new mycelium structures will allow for a reduction in waste and carbon emissions and a stronger ecological connection to the surrounding environment. It also opens up possibilities for alternative construction methods, such as onsite fabrication and community-based design integration that does not rely on traditional large scale manufacturing frameworks. This study focuses on soft woven infrastructure processes that provide a multi-variable framework for growing architectural materials. This completed design exercise on mycelium structures will help educate designers and building users about the benefits of this material while providing a new fabrication method for mycelium, thus increasing its use in the construction industry to help combat larger issues of climate change through alternative building construction and local craft practices.