BIOMANUFACTURING OF ARCHITECTURAL PROTOTYPES WITH CYANOBACTERIA

Abstract

Cement and concrete production are responsible for nearly 8% of the world's annual emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Biodesign can potentially address this challenge in architecture by integrating living materials in design processes and enhancing the ecological performance of materials. As part of an interdisciplinary approach between architecture and microbiology, this research outlines a systematic workflow consisting of pre-fabrication, fabrication, and post-fabrication phases. The workflow leverages additive processes based on biological data and utilizes cyanobacteria’s output capabilities towards architectural production. Cyanobacteria through their photosynthetic process are able to absorb CO2 and induce calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation, the main ingredient in limestone and cement. This paper focuses on the pre-fabrication phase and develops material protocols for designers. It examines the compatibility of two bacterial strains in order to formulate a biomixture suitable for integration in an additive biomanufacturing process.