CONTENT PAGE MANIFESTO INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: PLASTIC
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PLASTIC 5 STATISTIC 7 The importance of human action 9 Life without plastic 11 TIMELINE OF PLASTIC 13 PLASTIC LIFE CYLCLE 15 TREATING PLASTIC General view 17 Smaller scale of recycling plant 18 Incineration 19 Alternative plastic 20 CHAPTER 2: MUSHROOM WHY MYCELIUM? 23
UNDERSTANDING MUSHROOM
Types of mushrooms 25 Mushroom life cycle 26 Plastic eating mushrooms 27 Glowing mushroom 29
METHODS OF GROWING
Manufacturing mycelium product 32 SWOT analysis 34
MYCELIUM PRODUCTS
Packaging 35 Mushroom leather 37 EXPERIMENTS Test run 1: Grow mycelium 39
Test run 2: Grow mycelium brick [on going]
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CHAPTER 3: BRIEF PROPOSAL CUMBERNAULD The situation 43 Deprived and divided Cumbernauld 45 Recycling facilities 46 PROPOSAL Site selection 48 Building types 49 Proposal section 53
PRECEDENT STUDY// INDUSTRY + CUMMUNITY
New Lanark – Cotton Industry 55 Charlestown – Limekilns 57 Bourneville – Cadbury’s factory 59
BUILDING BRIEF
5A + 5B 62 BIBLOGRAPHY
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INTRODUCTION
We cant escape the use of plastic but we can greatly reduce it
Technology itself can be a great deal towards human civilization. It helps us to move forward to our next goal. This always has been the main target that we humans have in mind. But then, when we care so much about improving our self by taking resources from nature. Ultimately, we have to pay the price. Pollution, climate change and extinction is just the tip of the negative impact. We use technology to create one of the most important materials which are plastic. Plastic waste can literally be found anywhere. For years we have been trying hard to remove plastic waste by encouraging people to do recycling. End of plastic life cycle ultimately will greatly harm the environment. But then, plastic fundamentally is one of the most important materials we create. Ironically, plastic is one of the major cause of pollution.
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We typically rely plastics on our packaging, shipping and storing. We use plastic mainly because of the ease of producing plastic and cost of making it. Normally for plastic packaging or plastic carrier bags, we only use once and will end up in a landfill or the sea. The amount of singleuse plastic has been rising to a critical rate which we are responsible for it. What if we can find an alternative of packing, shipping and storing to greatly reduce plastic waste? Mushroom mycelium is the answer to everything. This project aims to change the way we deal with plastic packaging. Typically, there are few methods of dealing with plastics. Burning plastic to generate energy or to recycle plastic is somewhat workable. However, the first part of making plastic is getting from nature and it will greatly affect the environment. If we change the first layer of production we can greatly reduce the use of plastics. By using mycelium from mushrooms we can produce better single-use packaging. We can even use the materials to create housing materials. The possibility is endless.
CHAPTER 1
PLASTIC
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Today only 10% of plastic waste is recycled because it is often cheaper to produce virgin plastic. The remaining 90% is incinerated, dumped in landfills, or abandoned in the oceans with the devastating consequences we are all well aware of.
PLASTIC
Ever since plastic introduced to this world we have never stop using it. The reason is simple. Plastic is one of the most versatile materials ever. It can be as flexible as you want it to be and it is very lightweight. It is moisture resistance and cheaply available. These are the many reasons that we are so attached with plastic. However, with the flexibility of plastics it covmes at a cost. Plastics can slow to degrade which takes up to 1000 years to degrade. Even for biodegradable plastics which takes years to degrade. The danger of taking plastics for granted is that one day it will ultimately come back and haunt us. For over 50 years, the amount of plastic we produced and consume has never stop rising. An estimation of 300 million tons of plastic were produce in 2013 alone. In 2008, our consumption of plastic estimated at 260 million tons. The stats itself its shocking enough to prove a point. Our plastic consumption has to stop at a point of time or else we need to face the consequences.
If you had the opportunity to take a stroll at any beach, you will find there are plastic scattered all over the beach. Imagine this, by the year 2025, every foot of coastline will be covered 100 plastic bags. This is a study conducted by the National Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). There are far worst issue that polluting our beautiful beaches. What about the ocean animals that are greatly endangered? The fishes in the sea has no control over this issue as we are the only ones that can make a change. There are thousands of birds landing daily at the beach thinking that all the plastic bits on the beach are food. Eventually, the only thing that we see are all the corpses laying on the beach. The situation that we facing now is just the beginning.
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STATISTIC
PLASTIC PRODUCTION
RATIO OF PLASTIC TO FISH IN THE OCREAN
PLASTICS SHARE OF GLOBAL OIL CONSUMPTION
Figure 1: Plastic production rate
ESTIMATED TIME TAKEN TO BIODEGRADE
Figure 2: Plastic biodegrade rate
These are some the statistic on the web. When you type ‘plastic pollution’ in Google search, all the statistic will come out showing us how terrible plastics can be. Every year, the statistic will show how much the earth is badly polluted with. All of the above statistic shows how much resources is need to produce plastic while comparing to the present and future. Plastic takes long time to biodegrade as shown on the graph. 7
Source : www.greenbatch.com
WHAT KIND OF WASTE FOUND IN UK BEACHES? Items found per 100m2
Figure 3: Possible waste found on the beach
TOTAL PLASTIC VOLUME BEING DISCARDED
Figure 4: Plastic waste amount being recycled
8 Figure 5: Plastic statistic Source : Self drawn
The importance of humans action
We have are the only ones that could save the earth. Even though from young we were told to do recycling and separate different waste types. However, from all the statistics, it doesn’t seem to be improving. The reason is that we are not being educate enough. The world we live in only cares about ourselves and not much about the environment. At some point we did realised that we need to take initiative to clean up the mess we created. I think the problem is that we didn’t notice that part of the issue starts with us as the consumer. If we were given the choice of not buying plastic products which I’m sure that we won’t. Then said, it is not possible to stop using plastic products. Most of the products sold in supermarkets are covered in plastic packaging. This is to ensure the longevity of the products. Currently, there’s hope for the packaging industry. I believe the best way to reduce plastic consumption at a consumer level is to bring our own bags and only get grocery from local food store. Most of the time, local food store grows their own product. This certainly will reduce the carbon footprint of individual person. Plus, this is also a great way to improve local economy.
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The mainstream media are telling us that recycling can reduce plastic waste. Recycling can save humanity from the major issue of plastic pollution. But in reality, we are producing far more than we could ever recycle. In a typical recycling factory, it only can recycle up to a certain amount of plastic waste. Some of the plastic waste is not recyclable. Secondly, recycling is a very long process. It’s far quicker to manufacture plastic than to recycle it. Even the cost of manufacture plastic is far cheaper than to recycle it. For an example, it takes a minute to fully clean a plastic bottle beverage for recycling compared to producing 1000 bottles of plastic bottle filled with beverage. Some manufacturing company tends to stay away from recycled plastic because the quality of the recycled product is not great. It is saddening enough the world itself is suffering from our consequences. However, there is hope, at a personal level we can separate plastic waste or try to clean it before throwing away. Even though we may not see the result, but if we all could lend a helping hand, our next generation will enjoy the world as we did.
Figure 6: Man clearing out plastic waste
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Figure 7: Life without plastic Source: www.polyplastic.com
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Life without plastic
Can we imagine a life without plastic? At the moment, it is not possible to live without plastic. Take a look at our current environment, everything we use or do has something to do with plastic. For example, the chair we sit on, the mouse we use to scroll with, the clothes we wear and so on. Plastic is everywhere. What I feel is that we have reached a point of no return when I look at the current situation. However, there is an old saying: ‘’If there’s a will, there’s a way.’’ There is a countless possibility of how we can avoid using unnecessary plastic. However, conservation and convenience have totally different endings. If some people want convenience they ultimately will be sacrificing conservation. It certainly depends on how well they are educated and how much they care about the environment. On contrary, we have a choice of choosing reusable bags and I’m sure that most of us will try to use it for the purpose of saving the environment. At my own personal level, I tried to avoid plastic straws and try to reuse plastic bags as much as possible. By doing so, I’m visually advising others to follow suit. For me, it feels like a chain reaction. Everything you do matters. I know some may think that, “what’s the point of doing so if nobody is doing it.” I believe that if you did your part, that’s all that matters. But in reality, the recycling options are limited. The problem that I found is that, there are more recycling bins in the shopping malls, parks and some better off towns than lower income area. If there is an option for everyone to do recycling, I think everyone will be happy to do so. However, people will think twice if they have to walk a distance just to recycling and that affects a lot. End of the day, our mind-set about plastic waste have to change no matter what or else it would be too late to do anything.
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TIMELINE OF PLASTIC 1284. Records of
oldest naturally made plastic from tortoiseshell and horn.
1940. First
toothbrush with nylons tufts in production.
1909. Bakelite was
1869. John Wesley
invented by Leo Baekeland. The first fully synthetic plastic and it’s suited for mass production from jewellery to
Hyatt is the inventor of the first synthetic polymer - Celluloid
1930. 3M company created the first transparent sticky tape – ‘Scotch’ tape
1925. “Plastic” term was introduced to the world
1938. Teflon material 1897. German
researches produces Galalith, which still in use today. Plastics buttons in particular.
1916. Car manufacture
Rolls Royce begin to use phenol formaldehyde in the interior of its car.
1862. Alexander
Parkes shows the first man-made plastic called parkesine but it never caught the public’s attention because of the high cost.
1920. Coco Channel use Bakelite to produce Jewellery.
1898. Mass production of gramophone records from shellac.
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was invented by Roy Plunkett which today was most commonly used in kitchenware.
2009. Boeing
develops Boeing 787 consist of 100% plastic composites which making up 50% of all materials found in plastic.
1965. Stephanie
Kwolek develops Kevlar. This material is used by the police and military forces due to the incredible resistive properties. product that uses this material.
1953. Daniel Fox
invented Lexan which was very durable. Apple products such as IPod and IBook are the few modern product that uses this material.
1982. First
artificial heart made mainly of polyurethane, introduced implanted in a human
1973. Introduction 1958. Lego patented its signature block design and produces toys made out of cellulose acetate.
of Plastic beverage bottles
1960. First
1969. Neil
was the result of chemist all over the world in making an effort to improve the formulas of Bakelite.
available biodegradable plastic launched by ICI.
Armstrong the first astronaut to land on the moon, plants a flag made out of nylon.
1980. Plastic 1954. Availability of Styrofoam.
applied to polymer and composite applications
1990. First commercially
plastic debris found in the ocean.
1948. ABS plastic
2000. Nano-Technology
industries launch an effort to encourage plastic waste recycling. However, the recycled plastic are far from perfect and most of the plastic still ended up in landfills or the ocean
2XXX. What’s
next for plastic?
2005. NASA explore the possibilities of using polyethylene based material in their Mars program.
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PLASTIC LIFE CYCLE Plastics prove to be one of the most important material we created. However, the production of plastics causes more harm than we could have ever imagined. The very first step of manufacture plastics is to get crude oil from the earth. We thought that the only consequence is the diminishing of crude oil. But in a bigger picture, we have to get the land to do mining. That itself already taken up many precious land from natural habitat and endangering wildlife. Everything we do related to plastics production will eventually hit us hard. For an example, the waste material or micro plastic from plastic factory at a certain point of time will leak to the ocean. The marine animals that we depend as one of our food source will take it as their food. By then, we will be the one eating back the plastics we produced. Take all this to account, this is just the tip of the iceberg. However, we can greatly reduce plastic production by introducing a few methods of plastic treating.
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Figure 8: Plastic life cycle
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TREATING PLASTIC General view
Figure 9: Simplified view on plastic life cycle
This is plastic life cycle in a simplest form. It typically start from getting crude oil then its transported to a manufacture plant to create plastic raw material. And then it becomes product that we use daily. After that the product will be either recycled or being thrown away in a landfill. v
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Smaller scale of recycling plant
Figure 10: Rethinking how to recycle
We can change the way we treat plastic by a few methods. The first one is to make a smaller scale of recycling plants that everyone can easy access to. By rethinking the methods of recycling we can greatly increase the interaction of people with their own trash. Take responsibility and action towards their own trash. This certainly will decrease the amount of trash going to the landfill.
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Incineration
Figure 11: Plastic as a energy source
Second, we can treat plastic as an energy source. By burning the plastic, it turns in to energy and produces electricity for all. However, this method still doesn’t fix the first part of plastic issue. We still have to produce plastic in order to get energy from it. Thus, this is a solution to reduce plastic waste but not a solution for how we reduce plastic production.
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Alternative plastic
Figure 12: Mushrooms as a plastic replacement
What if we can greatly reduce the production of plastic while having the same plastic packaging properties? It is eco-friendlier than your average biodegradable plastic. All the products made from tMushroom can be shredded and discarded almost anywhere because of the organic properties. Not only we can reduce the amounts of plastic waste and manufacturing but also the amount of trash ending up in the sea resulting in mismanage waste control.
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CHAPTER 2
MUSHROOM
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Figure 13: Closeup shot of Mycelium
WHY MYCELIUM?
No doubt that plastic has its flexible properties but it doesn’t have the properties of decomposing quickly and it is damaging to the environment. Plus, Plastic packaging or single use plastic makes up 40% of the entire plastic production. Nature always provides us with amazing material choices. However, we always turn to a blind side when it comes to sourcing new material since it has been established so well. There is one alternative material to replace plastics which is mushrooms. The reason mushroom is chosen to replace plastics is not just for the decompose capacity but also for the flexibility in the end product which the mushrooms can produce. Thus, materials derived from mushrooms can be like rubber of soft fabric like leather, cork like, plastic like skin and most importantly the possibilities of replacing single use plastic packaging.
Mycelium is the vegetative part of the mushrooms or rather “Nature’s glue”. In short, mycelium grows by spreading its long strands of fibre that holds itself to some structure. Organic packaging is made possible by this process. Mushroom based packaging uses agriculture waste or wood housing development waste as the base for the fungus to grow on. The tiny mycelium fibre is then bind together while forming a strong and solid product. This method of manufacturing can take from days up to weeks subjecting to size of the product. End of the day, no matter how long it takes, as long as it is better than plastic packaging it would certainly help the environment.
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UNDERSTANDING MUSHROOMS Types of mushrooms
Boletus
Suillellus
Orange cap boletus
Suillellus
Figure 14: Types of Mushrooms
Mushrooms come in many sizes and many shapes. Agaricus bisporus is the actual name of the mushroom fungus. All of the above mushrooms are just some of the example that we can cultivate to produce mycelium products. Even the ones you can find readily available at supermarket stores. The wide varieties of mushrooms have a different effect towards the end product. Some mushrooms mycelium have a better chance of getting the end product while others have other properties. Then said, mushrooms are widely available and the cost is relatively low. This allows a mass production of mycelium products packaging and is safer than plastic packaging.
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Thricholoma
Champignon
Oyster mushroom
Mushroom life cycle
Spore germination Mycelial expansion
Inoculation
Mature fruitbody
Spore liberation
Imperfect stage
Sclerotiva formation
Fruitbody development
Hyphal knot
Primodia formation
Figure 15: Mushroom life cycle
Like everything in this universe, mushrooms have its own lifecycle. It started with inoculation, spores will grow on a suvbstrate and if the conditions are alright, spores will eventually germinate. Then comes spore germination, hyphae will grow from the spore while compatible hyphae will mate and make fertile mycelium. After fertile, the mycelium will break down to an organic matter. It will absorb energy and nutrients from its neighbouring context. Thus, the mycelium will grow while repels any other impurities with their own protective enzymes and compounds. In short, mycelium is the mushroom’s own immune system.
Next comes the hyphal knot. The mycelium will condense itself to hyphal knots which ended up becoming baby mushrooms. Primordia formations happen when the mushroom organism develops enzymes while creating its fruit body. From a few thousands of primordia, the organism selects a few promising ones and grow into mature fruit bodies. The mature fruitbody will concentrate all of its nutrients and energy to grow itself. The goal here is to produce spores that allow sexual reproduction phase of the life cycle. Finally, the fruitbody discharges its spores into the atmosphere for breeding. Those spores that found a suitable substrate or growth medium can germinate. This is how 26
Plastic eating mushrooms
The only places where S.C. and P.O. cannot be found growing. They prefer temperate to tropical climate
S.C is particularly appreciated as a food source in Mexico, North India, Nigeria and China
P.O is eaten all over the world as a popular food source S.C. : Schizohyllum Commune P.O. : Pleurotus Ostreatus
Growing mushrooms on a toxic waste such as plastic that can be eaten are possible now thanks to Livin Studios awards winning works. They did a prototype to show using plastic as a medium to grow edible mushrooms. The fungus in the works is Schizohyllum Commune and Pleurotus Ostreatus. These fungi are found everywhere throughout the world. In particularly where areas have large amounts of timber. The amazing part of the experiment is that the fungus actually dissolves the plastic in a matter of weeks not years. This proves that fungus can be grown in most extreme environmental conditions where plastic pollution has endangered the nation.v
Fungi Mutarium Growing mushrooms on toxic waste
Process 1.
Plastic wastes are treated in a UV ray cylinder
for sterilization process and it is much easier for the fungus to consume plastic 2.
The substrate cup is made out of agar (seaweed
based gelatine, starch, and sugar) is placed into the mutarium growth sphere 3. The pre-sterilized plastic is now placed into the cup ready to be consumed 4.
Liquid solution mycelium (macerate) is extracted
from Fungi Nursery 5. Macerate is carefully dropped into the cup to grow 6. After a few weeks, the cup can be taken out and be 27
prepared and eaten
Figure 16: Plastic eating fungi in a prototype
28 Figure 17: Process of manufacturing edible fungi grow from consuming plastic
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Glowing mushroom
Figure 18: Glowing mushrooms
Some 80 or more types of fungus are found to able to emit light or rather glow in the dark. This occurs when oxygen is reacted with another high reaction chemical that causes it to glow. This phenomenon is called oxyluciferin. Oxyluciferin can be tweak to release different types of colours. Studies show that the purpose of the glowing mushrooms is to allow insects to track itself for spore germination as it is best to spread it at night when it is more humid. For now, scientist is to use it a biological research and in the future maybe it shall replace our lights source as it is energy efficient. 30
Figure 19: Typical farm sketch
Agriculture crops can be easily and be obtainable. This allows lower cost of production. For the farmers it can be another solution for the wasted crops. They can learn another skill other than just pure farming. Instead of farming for corns, they can harvest mushrooms by using the crops from the corn production
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METHODS OF GROWING Manufacturing mycelium product
Figure 20: Methods of growing mycelium
1. Agricultural waste are pasteurised in a pressured chamber and cut into pieces 2. Water and nutrients combined added into the mix 3. Mycelium is added into the mix, using hand carefully mix all the ingredients together 4. Placed in a mould letting it set. 5. The mould is sealed and placed away from sunlight 6. It takes three to five days for the mycelium to grow over the entire mould 7. The end product is taken to and oven to stop the growth of the mycelium 32
Figure 21: Some of the substrate that mushroom could grow on
Mycelium doesn’t just rely on farm crops altough it is optimal to use farm crops. However, mycelium can rely on other materials to grow on. As long as the material has been pasteurised it will be alright. The sketches above are some of the materials. Coffee, wood shavings, crops and even cardboard are some of the mediums.
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SWOT analysis Swot analysis of mycelium based products that conveys a general comparison against plastic.
Strengths
Weakness
•
•
Disadvantage in time to produce compared
• Biodegradable
to plastic
•
Strong, reliable, mouldable, lightweight
•
Less range of products and variables can
•
Used less energy to produce
be manufactured
•
It can be a food source
Grow easily from any agriculture waste
• Low-cost •
No health risks
•
Water proof and almost resistant to fire
•
No pollution or waste from the process
unlike plastic
Opportunities
Threats
•
Possibility to replace plastic product
•
Competition is tough against already
•
Ongoing research to improve the product
established plastic production
and to create many more
•
Misleading information about fungus
•
Expand to local communities as it is easy
products
to produce
•
Replace abandon building as an urban
farming platform
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Beams
Seed starters
Tile
Maison jar packaging
Corner packaging
Breakway coners
Acoustic sound wall
Bottle wine shipper
Cylindrical flower pod
Container
33 Source : www.greenbatch.com
MYCELIUM PRODUCTS Packaging
Teddy bear
Square planter box
Cooler
The only issue here is whether companies that use plastic packaging is willing to make a change. If massive multi-billion dollar companies such as Apple and Ikea is willing to use this as their main product packaging then the consumers will be well informed that mycelium products are better off than plastics. Mycelium technology proves to be possible and reliable. Side table
Buidling panel Figure 22 : Mycelium products by Mycoworks
From the geniuses of Econativedesign, they actually manufacture consumer friendly Do-it-yourself kit. It encourages consumers to take part in the revolutionary technology and make the products at home. These are only some of the products made from mycelium. All these products can be made at a personal level. It is not that difficult to make. However, the conditions for making the products have to be very clean and hygienic or the mycelium won’t grow. Although mycelium products may not take over plastic in a few years’ time, this certainly is a start. 36
Mushroom leather
Muskin, is a vegan leather made out of mushrooms and raw natural materials that could replace animal leather. Animal leather not only causes pollution as it requires harmful chemicals as well as the most important aspects of making the leather – Animals being slaughter. Muskin is eco-friendly and sustainable. The choice for making muskin is sourced from apple scraps, pineapples and the cap of Phallinus Ellipsoideus, a rather large inedible mushroom. The process of making Muskin is treated the same way as leather but in a completely natural method. Part of the procedure is to use eco-wax which adds the characteristic of leather. The properties of Muskin is similar to leather. Basically, it can make any leather related products such as wallets and shoes as It is waterproof and flexible. However, this is a long and slow process and it could take up to a month to produce 40-50 square meters of Muskin. Despite the time taken to manufacture is slow but this certainly will help to reduce pollution. 37
Figure 23: Mushroom leather, Muskin
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EXPERIMENTS Test run 1: Grow mycelium
Disposable gloves Wood shavings
Experiment dish
Button mushroom
Gelatine
Dettol
Container Figure 24: Materials for test 1
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1
2
3
4
5
6
Figure 25: Test 1 procedure
The following experiment that I carried out following the instructions online on how to grow mycelium using my own ingredients, materials and end results. All the materials can be found in local markets and it is fairly cheap compared to the well-prepared ones online. The time to carry out this test takes around 4 days as this is my first time doing this experiment. Materials Button mushroom from the market, disposable gloves, wood shavings, experiment dish, gelatine, Dettol and container. Purpose To grow mycelium from scratch. Hypothesis Will the mycelium grow from gelatine agar? Data collection Day 1. The experiment is carried out. The experimental dish is filled with gelatine and mushroom stalk and
placed in a cupboard.
Day 2: Poke holes on the cover of the experimental dish to allow interchanging of air. Day 3: Nothing, in particular, happen except for the mushroom stalk has sunken in the gelatine. Day 4: experiment no longer continue due to the agar has a water substance. Results: Unsuccessful Reason 1. The agar-based has to be nutritional in order for the mycelium to grow. Gelatine doesn’t have
nutritional value.
Reason 2. The entire area has to be clean and bacteria free. Reason 3. Everything related to the experiment has to be cleaned and pasteurize. Reason 4. The mushroom might have been in the fridge for too long. Reason 5. If the chosen gelatine is plant-based product, mycelium might have spread. Reason 6. The area of storing might not suitable for mycelium growing. Reason 7. Alcohol wipes might be a better option than Dettol. Reason 8. Experimental dish has to be pasteurized instead of using Dettol to wipe clean. Reason 9. Wrong parts of mushroom are taken. It has to be the clean inner part of the cap. Reason 10. Temperature not suitable. Conclusions The experiment failed ultimately because of above reasons. It could have been better if the entire area is clean. Recommendations 1.
A clean room is needed.
2.
A proper storage and a lab to process agar is recommended.
3.
Pressure cooker is recommended to pasteurize ingredients and utensils.
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Test run 2: Grow mycelium brick [ On going ]
Wood shaving
Container
Grown mycelium pack
Dettol
Disposible gloves Figure 26: Materials for test 2
1
2
Pastuerize wood shavings for 1 to 2 hours 4
Dettol wipes clean the surface
5
Spread the packed mycelium evenly and mix thoroughly 7
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3
Rapid cool the wood shavings
6
Place the mix in to a sealable bag
Remove the air in the mix
8
Cut small “x� shaped holes to allow airflow
Placed the bag far away from sunlight
Figure 27: Test 2 procedure
Following test 1, I’ve source other materials and methods to carry out this experiment. This time around I has bought grown mycelium packs from eBay. This experiments I carried out during the last week before submission and I had to go on a university trip to Venice. Some of the data are not complete. Thus this experiment doesn’t have end results yet. Materials Grown mycelium packs, pot, wood shavings, water, disposal gloves, Dettol and container. Purpose To grow mycelium brick from grown mycelium packs. Hypothesis Will the mycelium packs able to produce mycelium brick? Data collection Day 1: Pasteurize wood shavings and mix in the mushroom pack. Stored in a cleaner part of the room. Day 2: Wood shaving still damp. Mycelium appears to be spreading. Day 3 – 6: Mycelium spreads even more. Day 7: Last check on the mycelium before leaving for Venice. Results: Unknown. Possible outcomes. a. Experiment success. Mycelium fully grew in the container and are being processed to a mycelium brick. b. Experiment failed. Mycelium failed to grow in the wood shaving as it is might not suitable. Recommendations 1. Have a 24 hours surveillance teams to check mycelium 2. Storage to keep the premix products 3. A more humid room is needed to keep the substrate damp
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CHAPTER 3
BRIEF PROPOSAL
CUMBERNAULD The situation
From the Group manifesto, Cumbernauld was founded on a set of utopian principles built on the post-war optimism for a brighter future. In 1955, Cumbernauld was designed to allocate more people to this area due to overcrowding in Glasgow city. However, the plans fell over in a few decades. During its peak, it has over 70 000 people live in Cumbernauld but now in 2018, there is only 52 000 left. One of the main reasons is the lack of job opportunity. Cumbernauld itself is a much-centralized location it is just 20 minutes away from Glasgow and 40 minutes away from Edinburgh. Therefore the community living in Cumbernauld tends to go either of this two locations to look for a better job opportunity. Having the idea of Cumbernauld being an eco-friendly industrial that provides job and to create new products which revolve around mushrooms. Therefore I believe if new technology were to implicated in this area, Cumbernauld would relive again.
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Figure 28: Cumbernauld site impression
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Deprived and divided Cumbernauld
Figure 29: Cumbernauld SIMD analysis
The lack of job opportunity it is already a major issue. Furthermore, there is a lack of connection between the north and south side. The above analysis of SIMD (The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) is from the group analysis, from there you can clearly see the difference between the two parts of town. The clear setback is that it is deeply divided by the motorway. Therefore, the new building proposal has to have the aspect of connecting both of the parts of the town together.
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Recycling facilities
Figure 30: Cumbernauld recylcing facility
In Cumbernauld, there is a collection spot where the community can go there and drop their recyclable materials there. But the whole idea of recycling is being as efficient as possible is not available here. The collection spot is far away from the town centre and it’s impossible to walk there without having a means of transportation.
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Figure 31: Choosen site in Cumbernauld
PROPOSAL Site selection The reason for putting the building right next to the motorway it’s because this motorway connects to the outside area of Cumbernauld. For logistic thinking, it is better off to have accessible traffic that wouldn’t cause a congestion whenever there’s a moving of products. Furthermore, there will be towers that are covered by energy emitting mushrooms. The spectacular light up towers can be seen when driving along the motorway. Primary space will consist of major parts of the industry which is the main towers, mushroom factories and recycling facilities. Shifting the recycling center nearer in town here could improve the accessibility of recycling in Cumbernauld as the only facility is far from town. Secondary spaces will be the housing for the workers and visitor centre where there will be a hands-on area for the visitor to learn about mycelium products.
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Building types
Mushroom growing room This room is for the growing process of mushrooms. It will have temperature and humidity control as it needs to be optimal in order to grow. The choice of lighting is up to which type of mushroom the room is growing.
Mycelium growing facility This place is for the growing process of mycelium. After mixing with the mycelium with a substrate it is filled in a bag and placed in a humid controlled room. The substrate or the base for the mycelium to grow on is not allowed to be dried up or else the mycelium will not spread. This room also has to be very clean and hygienic.
Mould storage room Every product has to have the mould. After the mycelium is fully grown in the bag, it is taken out and compressed in a mould then it is left there for a few days for the mycelium to adopt a new shape.
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Restaurant The best thing about growing organic produce is that the extra mushrooms can turn into food. The mushroom itself is very healthy and very versatile as a dish. The menu for this restaurant has a wide variety of choice. Ranges from the Middle East to the western part of the world.
Processing room This first part of mushroom making as this room consists of mixing, preparing and baking. Mixing is the combine the mycelium and substrate together. Preparing is for the preparation of the Agar for the mycelium to grow into mushrooms. Baking is the last step in the mycelium product. Once the mycelium has set its shape, it shall be bake at a certain temperature to stop the growing process.
Laboratory This room is where all the testing commence and to research for a better product as well as to find a new purpose of mushrooms.
Figure 32: Building types
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Housing The proposed site has a huge amount of land that could turn into housing for the workers at the factory. The housing scheme is inspired by the Cadbury Brothers where they create decent and affordable housing for the workers.
Visitor centre + Administration Visitor centre allows the community to have a closer look at the product and the process. Parts of the centre will have an experience room which is to teach the community on how to grow mycelium at their own. It is possible to grow mycelium product at home.
Shipping centre Since this is an upcoming industry, a space to accommodate Imports and exports of materials and products has to be at an accessible location. The proposed area for the building is right beside the motorway which allows a better flow of traffic.
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Living towers This tower will be covered by light emitting mushrooms. During the night, the entire tower will lid up and can be seen from a distance. Other properties of this towers are that growing mushrooms on top of the plastic. As from the research, the time taken for the mushrooms to consume plastic is far quicker than letting the plastic degrade on a landfill. Slowly but steadily, the mushrooms slowly consume the plastics while the towers are being filled up with plastic creating a passive kinetic movement. 52 Figure 33: Building types
Proposal section Mushroom Bond is a place where the community can enjoy during their days off. Have a coffee or lunch at the restaurant which serves vast amounts of mushroom related dishes. Take a stroll around the space or wait till night time to catch a glimpse of our lid up living towers power by natural energy produced from the mushroom itself.
Visitor Centre
Laboratory
Processing room
Direct tunel to and from M80
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Living tower
Mushrooms
Plastic waste
Plastic waste
Hydraulic
Figure 34: Concept sections
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PRECEDENT STUDY // INDUSTRY + COMMUNITY New lanark - Cotton Industry
New Lanark was founded by David Dale in 1785 as a brand new industrial settlement. Cotton mills are powered by the water from the River Clyde and the settlement itself is built from local sandstone. The peak number of people living in the village was 2 500 in the year 1820 which was the biggest cotton manufacturing centre in Scotland. Robert Owen who was David Dale’s son-in-law, gave the settlement a new purpose during his time managing the village. He used the profits from the industry and finance social and educational that helped to improve the quality of life for his workers. Children were not allowed to work in the mill. He built the first infant school in the village and the world. In addition to all the benefits of working there, the employees had a sickness fund, free medical care, and a savings bank. 1948 was the last time they use water-powered cotton mills due to the change in technology. The machines slowly replaced by water turbines. The village was built during the industrial revolution and it survives with a few physical changes. Till today there are still about 180 people living in the village. In December 2001, the village enlisted on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.
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Figure 35: Historical photos of New lanark
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Charlestown - Limeklins
Charlestown was the brainchild of Charles Bruce. The original town layout is still visible in a form or “CE� which was from his formal title – Charles Elgin. The town was part of his estate and he wanted to make full use the asset from the town which was the coal and limestone lay under the town. Despite lime has always been processed at a nearby Limekilns but what Charles Elgin built was truly revolutionary. Hard to imagine that Charlestown was one of the most important and at the time biggest industrial centres in the country. In order to have the production rate he wanted, he needed workers and the workers needed housing. He provided them nonetheless housing near the quarry and street patterns based on his own initials CE. Charlestown probably was the first industrial housing planned settlement in Scotland which includes all the required aspects of the industry. Kilns, quarries, wagonways, dwellings and harbour. Each of the dwellings has its own kitchen, bedroom and living room. In 1768, a school was built for the children of the workers from Charlestown. The entire town expanded quickly and for the next few decades, it remains as the biggest lime industry in Scotland. Despite, the limekilns at Charlestown close in 1956 but harbour remains open and turned into shipbreaking industry where it dissembles ships from World War One.
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Figure 36: Historical photos of Charlestown
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Bourneville - Cadbury’s Factory
Bournville is the results of a massive expansion of industry in Victorian England which leads to an enormous increase of employment in the town. People from the rural area with the chance of changing their life came to the factory for work because of the high wages that they promised. With the industrial booming, the placed became too overcrowded. So came in George Cadbury and his brother. Both of them made an important decision in 1879 to move their chocolate business to a more open countryside of Worcestershire. As the company become even more successful, it gave both brothers financial possible to realise their social interest. George Cadbury was the first one to planned and built balance community. His objective was to create homes that are affordable which the factory workers can buy and if they don’t have enough money, renting is a viable option. All the homes are fairly priced and have decent quality as the homes have good sanitation and airy rooms. Within a decade, he bought another 120 acres of land near the factory and build 143 cottages in the first year alone. Over a hundred years on, Bournville has over 8 000 homes ranging from one room flats to five room houses in a land of over a thousand acres.
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Figure 37: Historical photos of Bourneville
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MUSHROOM BOND FOR A BETTER TOMORROW
BUILDING BRIEF 5A + 5B
In order to move on from plastic, we need to find a new cleaner and better technology to replace plastic. This project is based on a more eco-friendly alternative material which is mushrooms. Humanity’s future is bright, as mushroom will overtake plastic as the main packaging material. However, the process of making it possible is still on the works. More researches are welcome to improve the product. The choice of introducing Cumbernauld a new industry is one of the best ways to improve the town population. From the stories of Cadbury Brothers, proves that job opportunities indeed is one of the most important aspects of making a town successful. Cumbernauld located in a very strategic location in Scotland where it has a direct link with Glasgow and Edinburgh as both of the city has a healthy amount of population. Not only can Cumbernauld be the new town but a better town with a self-sustain motto. The selected site is located right beside the motorway. Analysis from a logistics standpoint, it allows better flow of products from the factory as it can directly import and export materials. The entire site is big enough to accommodate new building types and provide new housing scheme for the workers as well as their family. It certainly will improve the old housing scheme that was designed back in the 60’s where it is not so relevant today.
Project 5A will study the basis of constructing a proper industrial town that will carry on to project 5B. 5A is a process of looking at properties in making building types and how to create a sustainable manufacture. Whereas 5B will be taking building spaces and production spaces into account. Project 5B aims to look at how building types create a place as well as to create the plans and to research spaces that are required to industrialize mushroom base packaging production. Nevertheless, part of the 5B project will also be looking into the future as of how the industry performs after 100 years. A lot of times, most industries will die off and had to think ways to repurpose the entire area. To conclude, Mycelium based products are the future of how we do packaging. Mycelium has great potential to be an alternative material for other industry such as the clothing and housing industry. Then said, the possibility is endless. The first step towards a better future has just begun.
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