UrbanShift.eu

Talents

Living Facade

Team:

Kaan Servi

Miguel Pena Menudo

The project is developed as a refurbishment of the façades of the Universitat de Barcelona. The project proposes to refurbish the existing façade of the towers and the gap between the two towers with ecological and organic material called “mycelium” attained from mushroom roots. The refurbishment of the existing façade with mycelium material proposes to bring sustainable and eco-friendly solutions that would eliminate the negative impacts of material production in the construction industry. Modular mycelium-based panels will be openable and fixed according to various necessities. Flexibility in design encourages dynamism and allows these to change by replying to the different angles of solar incidence and climatic variables that occur throughout the year. Mycelium panels produced with organic substance capture CO2 from the atmosphere during the growing process. The project left some panels alive to allow them to clean the air since the capturing process stops after baking mycelium panels. The research of existing applications has proved that mycelium panels are carbon negative, capturing twice times much CO2 than emitting. During experimentation, only carbon dioxide was emitted during the transportation process. Also, only electricity was used during the preparation of moldings and baking process while it only used a little amount of water. Therefore, the Living Façade project provides reliable data and solutions against possible future energy and water crises and for reducing environmental impact. Due to the organic substance, Mycelium panels disappear in nature without creating waste. It has been tested after the installation of the prototype and the degradation process has been documented, which proved mycelium panels are %100 biodegradable. After panels are dismantled and decompose in the soil, the panels turn into organic substances for feeding soil and organisms such as insects, worms, etc. It becomes a part of the recyclable ecosystem.