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Living inside a mushroom, a pig or a plastic bottle? Unusual materials with a promising future
Materialization, one of the most important aspects in an architectural project. Materialization of the loadbearing structure or the façade is one of the things that can make your project extraordinary. But the wrong use of a specific material can also downgrade your whole design. However, as an architecture student you can only learn so much about materials. Which mostly limits us to the use of common materials like wood, steel and concrete for the loadbearing structure and bricks and glass for the façade. Yet, there are way more interesting materials for grabs: especially in this century of innovation. In this article four innovative materials are discussed.
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In vitro meat In the future you might be living inside of a pig. This might sound weird but no worries for the vegetarians and vegans amongst us: no animals were harmed in the process of making a meat home. Meat cells are grown in laboratories for the buildings. Until today only scale models have been made but the concept gives an insight of how meat cells could replace traditional building materials. The cells are 3D printed in all sorts of shapes. Sodium Benzonate is added for the preservation but also to kill yeast, bacteria and fungi. This makes the meat last for a fairly long time. The sight of the scale models isn’t very attractive but the idea itself is quite interesting. Envision walls made from tissue, bones and skin which will replace insulation and where muscles function as windows which can open and close by themselves.
