Willem Velthoven

Building with Living Materials

Architectural design with biology programme at Mediamatic

In 2014 Mediamatic started to develop a new program that combines architecture with living materials in experimental ways. Living materials cannot only be more ecological, they offer very exiting new design challenges and possibilities. This program is about exploring and sharing those.

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Test panel by Gerald Lindner - Mold with substrate filling

One of the partners within the Living Architecture program are Gerald Lindner and Thomas Dill from Kasco.cc. They are looking for new solutions in sustainable building. For the project Buiksloterham, a glass house in the north of Amsterdam, we are collaborating in creating mycelium insulation panels. This comes with various challenges. For example; what is the right substrate? What shape works best for application in building? How to stop the material from growing and eating itself? How to upscale production?