THERE’S A BAG BETWEEN US

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Graduate Thesis, Architecture

MArch

Can we rethink our means and methods of construction to radically reduce our impact on the natural environment?

The construction industry is one of the world's largest contributors to global waste and, subsequently, one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters. Rocco Battista investigates this problem and offers an alternative proposal to popular building components.

His thesis, entitled “There’s a Bag Between Us,” presents the world through the lens of human activity: extraction, extinction, planetary cycles, waste streams, and agricultural practices. By stitching all these facets together in his drawings, Battista offers an unsettling view of the world buried in waste. His work generates a physical and ephemeral interface between human and fungal environments, questioning how mycelium can be interlaced into the built environment.

Through his research, Battista learned that mycelium-based bio-composites could be grown to achieve similar results as polyurethane insulation without the level of embodied carbon attached to petroleum-based products. Additionally, biogenic materials engage in a cradle-tocradle-based economic system, one that calls for all products to have a beneficial use beyond their lifespan. Organic composites like mycelium can be composted when needed, producing beneficial soil for a greater purpose. To demonstrate this, Battista grew several fungal colonies to study and eventually test their potential as a construction material.

Battista’s work examines how the construction industry can change current practices and move beyond the principles of a “create-use-anddiscard” methodology. He, like many, believes that human legacies will be defined by our treatment of waste. This thesis proposes that designers need to take care in choosing materials, and consider their lifecycle, to show care for the planet's future.