Feb 21, 2019 | By Thomas
London-based architectural and their research partners, the urban design practice ecoLogicStudio has installed two 3D printed living sculptures exploring the future forms of spatial intelligence in the exhibition “La Fabrique du Vivant” (The Fabric of the living) at the Centre Pompidou in Paris between 20 February – 15 April 2019.
These 3D printed structures are intended to be speculative 1:1 scale prototypes of living architectures, a new generation of thick biophilic architectural skins receptive to urban life.
In H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g, a digital algorithm simulates the growth of a substratum inspired by coral morphology. This is physically deposited by 3D printers in layers of 400 microns, supported by triangular units of 46 mm and divided into hexagonal blocks of 18.5 cm.
Photosynthetic cyanobacteria are inoculated on a biogel medium into the individual triangular cells, or bio-pixel, forming the units of biological intelligence of the system. Their metabolisms, powered by photosynthesis, convert radiation into actual oxygen and biomass.
The density-value of each bio-pixel is digitally computed in order to optimally arrange the photosynthetic organisms along iso-surfaces of increased incoming radiation. Among the oldest organisms on Earth, cyanobacteria's unique biological intelligence is gathered as part of a new form of bio-digital architecture.
In XenoDerma by the Urban Morphogenesis Lab directed by Claudia Pasquero at The Bartlett UCL, spider web morphogenesis is intercepted with a man-made spatial scaffolding, algorithmically designed and 3D printed. Spiders’ minds, in this case Asian Fawn Tarantulas, do not entirely reside in their bodies, as their webs constitute a form of spatial thinking. Information from their webs become an integral part of their cognitive systems.
The behaviour of the spiders and the production of silk is re-programmed in XenoDerma through the design of the 3D printed substructure and of its geometrical features. The result consciously seeks productive ambiguity, revealing in the alien beauty of its silky morphologies, an intelligence that resides somewhere at the intersection of the biological, technological and digital realms.
Images © Urban Morphogenesis Lab, The Bartlett UCL
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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