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Fungal architectures

Project description

Building with mycelium-based technologies

The construction industry is one of the biggest and most resource-consuming industries in Europe. Due to record growth in population and increasing urbanisation occurring all around the globe, the demand for the industry is higher than ever before. It’s also constantly increasing. This increase poses a serious problem as it stretches the industry to its limits. The EU-funded FUNGAR project aims to develop a structural substrate using live fungal mycelium infused with nanoparticles and polymers. This structural substrate will be able to create buildings, which will self-grow, build and repair themselves while also adapting to the environment. To do this, they have assembled a team of architects, designers, computer scientists, biophysicists, mycologists and experts in mycelium-based technologies.

Objective

As one of the primary consumers of environmental resource, the building industry faces unprecedented challenges in needing to reduce the environmental impact of current consumption practices. This applies to both the construction of the built environment and resource consumption during its occupation and use. Where incremental improvements to current practices can be realised, the net benefits are often far outstripped by the burgeoning demands of rapidly increasing population growth and urbanisation. Against the backdrop of this grand societal challenge, it is necessary to explore approaches that envision a paradigm shift in how material is sourced, processed and assembled to address the magnitude of these challenges in a truly sustainable way, and which can even provide added value. We propose to develop a structural substrate by using live fungal mycelium (WP2), functionalise the substrate with nanoparticles and polymers to make a mycelium-based electronics (WP3), implement sensorial fusion and decision making in the fungal electronics (WP4) and to growing monolithic buildings from the functionalized fungal substrate (WP5). Fungal buildings will self-grow, build, and repair themselves subject to substrate supplied, use natural adaptation to the environment, sense all what human can sense. To achieve the goal we assembled a small but efficient consortium comprised of architects and designers (CITA), computer scientists and biophysicists (UWE), mycologists (UU), experts in mycelium-based technologies for the production (MOGU).

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Topic(s)

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RIA - Research and Innovation action

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2020

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND, BRISTOL
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 818 280,00
Address
Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane
BS16 1QY BRISTOL
United Kingdom

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Region
South West (England) Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 818 280,00

Participants (3)

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