THE TRIP

The Trip

The trip happens primarily within the mind of the participant and the trip room itself serves to mainly insulate the experience. The multitude of mycelium panels act as a sonic block to make the space more intimate and quiet. Additionally the bed which the participant occupies is at the low point of the room, furthering the feeling of depth and privacy. Soft , warm lighting is emitted from a chamber at the top of the room such that it is not directly illuminating the participant and instead causes the rooms itself to glow from the outside.

Contact High

Deep openings in the facade allow light to flow over the forest. Since the trip happens at night time, the site is illuminated by the psychedelic glow of the trip room giving a ‘contact high’ to onlooking third parties. This serves to poetically distribute the psychedelic nature of the ritual thus furthering the programmatic intention of the building.

The primary technical aim of this project was to establish a balance of agency within the building between both the participant and the mushroom and to combine each of their programmatic needs in such a way as to augment both the ritual and the mushroom’s propagation.

Through various testing and research I have been able to establish a set of design rules which can be applied to mycelium construction such that it furthers the ritualistic and psychological nature of the psychedelic trip within the building. This was primarily achieved by way of photogrammetry which allowed for practical tests to be atmospherically scrutinised against the criteria of the ritual. The process of digitising the models became a methodology in its own right as what were once previously 1:1 scale models are mirrored and reinterpreted to fit building scale design decisions. In turn, ritualistic activities established in the report such as the sacrificial growing wall now give agency back to the mushroom as the participant feeds the building and furthers the mycelial growth. Tests such as the mushroom book offered new insights into the tactile and textural potential of mycelium/mushrooms and have gone on to clearly influence the ongoing design of the building whether literally (as with the wall of mycelial books) or on a more figurative level.

Through the process of detailing the building in an effort to create a suitable climate for mushroom growth, a design language has emerged which strikes an equilibrium between the controlled timber structure and the unpredictable growth of mycelium. These architectural forces work in tandem to build the feeling of one foot in the real and one foot in the magical and have dramatically heightened the resolution of the design and set a foundation for further moves.

Ideally, if there were more time, I would like to have attempted larger scale mycelium casts and to begin making 1:1 fragments of the building with plywood formwork. Though the digitised models provide visual clarity, the smells, tastes and textures of intractable, human scale models would provide a greater depth of understanding as to the experiential consequences of mycelium and mushrooms.

Bibliography

Images

Figure 5.1 - Johns Hopkins Centre for Psychedelic Research, About, https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/

Figure 7.1 - (left to right on timeline)

1 - Psychedelic Science Review, Early INhabitants of Algeria Create Cave Art That Shows Mushrooms, https://psychedelicreview.com/event/cave-art-in-algeria-the-mushroom-shaman/

2 - Mushroom The Journal, A Cave in Spainn Contains the Earliest Known Depictions Of Mushrooms, https://www.mushroomthejournal.com/a-cave-in-spain-contains-the-earliest-known-depictions-of-mushrooms/

3 - Myctopia, Magic Mushroom Archaeological pictographs, https://mycotopia.net/topic/78200-magic-mushroom-archaeological-pictographs-stones-and-history/

4 - National Geographic, Ancient hallucinogens found in 1,000 year old Shamanic Pouch, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/ancient-hallucinogens-oldest-ayahuasca-found-shaman-pouch

5 - As above

6 - Nature, Drug Discovery : Synthesised Dreams, https://www.nature.com/articles/497435a

7 - Jacobin, The Lost Counterculture, https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/02/inherent-vice-review-counterculture

8 - Politico, Rihard nixon, https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/09/richard-nixon-born-1913-1083302

9 - Forbes, First of its Kind Clinical Trial to study Psychedelics, https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/08/12/psilocybin-trial-ptsd-veterans/?sh=43a59a594601

10 - Johns Hopkins Centre for Psychedelic Research, About, https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/

Figure 12.1 - Google Earth, Schlachtensee

Figure 13.1,13.2,13.3 - As Above

Figure 14.1 - TOnline, Popular places for swimming, https://www.t-online.de/region/berlin/news/id_88280978/beliebte-orte-zum-baden-schlachtensee-unter-top-20-der-welt.html

Figure 14.2 - Der Tagesspiegel, Schlactensee Frozen, https://www.tagesspiegel.de/mediacenter/fotostrecken/berlin/schlachtensee-gefroren-18-49_1/21031392.html

Figure 15.1 - Science Direct, City Profile : Berlin, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264275113001613

Figures 16.1 through 16.8 - Birdguides, Germany, https://www.birdguides.com/sites/europe/germany/

Figure 16.9 Through 16.12 - Textures.com, Bark Textures

Figure 17.1 Andrew Marsh, Sun path generator, http://andrewmarsh.com/software/

Figure 18.1, 18.2 - Meteoblue, Berlin, https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/week/berlin_germany_2950159

Figure 19.1 - Grünewald Forest, Schlachtensee, http://forst-grunewald.de/?page_id=1463

Figure 19.2 - Canal and River Trust, Zander, https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/fishing/fish-species/invasive-and-non-native-fish/zander

Figure 19.3 - David Miller Art, Perch Study II, https://www.davidmillerart.co.uk/collections/perch-prints/products/perch-study-ii

Figure 19.4 - Fish.Net, Pike, https://www.fishe.net/article/pike.php

Figure 19.5 - MyPost, Town Hires Angler to Deal With Monster, https://nypost.com/2018/07/17/town-hires-angler-to-deal-with-monster-duck-eating-catfish/

Figure 19.6 - The FisherMan, Common Carp, https://www.thefisherman.com/article/species-profile-common-carp/

Figure 19.7 - The Wildlife Trusts, Eel, https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/freshwater-fish/eel

Figure 23.1, 23.2 - Dezeen, Tower of Grown Bricks by The Living opens as MoMA PS1, https://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/01/tower-of-grown-bio-bricks-by-the-living-opens-at-moma-ps1-gallery/

Figure 24.1, 24.2 - Dezeen, Pavilion grown from mycelium acts as pop-up performance space ar ditch design week, https://www.dezeen.com/2019/10/29/growing-pavilion-mycelium-dutch-design-week/

Figure 25.1 - Material District, Shell Mycelium : using mycelium to build and destroy constructions, https://materialdistrict.com/article/shell-mycelium/

Figure 25.2,25.3,25,4 - Dezeen, Tree shaped structure shows how mushrooms roots could be used to create buildings, https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/04/mycotree-dirk-hebel-philippe-block-mushroom-mycelium-building-structure-seoul-biennale/

Figure 26.1 through 26.3 - Natalia Poirecka, MYCOsella - growing the mushroom chair, https://issuu.com/nataliapiorecka/docs/dissertation_project_ba_architectur

Figure 27.1 - University of Florida, Grow Shiitake Mushrooms in your Backyard, http://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/2016/11/

Figure 28.1 through 28.3 Zendo Project, How Zendo Got its name, https://zendoproject.org/zendo-project-in-the-media/how-zendo-project-got-its-name/

Figure 30.1 through 30.6 - youtube, ‘Fresh Cultivators’, Mushroom growing process from spores, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk9GNEEkQTc&t=209s&ab_channel=FreshCultivators

Figure 39.1 - Tradition Maritime skills, Steaming a strip of wood, http://www.boat-building.org/learn-skills/index.php/en/wood/steaming-a-strip-of-wood/

Figure 39.2 - Orca Boats, Steam bending Ribs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISLAUVRFDG0&ab_channel=OrcaBoats

Figure 42.1 Dispatched Europe, How Berlin helps the homeless in creative ways that actually work, https://dispatcheseurope.com/meda-harsan-how-berlin-helps-the-homeless-in-creative-ways-that-actually-work/

Figure 42.2 BerNews, Recycled glass used as construction Material, https://bernews.com/2012/08/recycled-glass-used-as-construction-material/

Figure 48.1 - Science photo Library, Cordyceps fungus growing on an ant, https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/591046/view/cordyceps-fungus-growing-on-an-ant

Figure 48.2 - Forestry journal, Spruce bark beetle’s devastating impact on German forests, https://www.forestryjournal.co.uk/features/18766981.fighting-losing-battle/

Figure 63.1, 63.2 - InHabitat, Tiny House Made of Mushrooms is Now Complete, https://inhabitat.com/worlds-first-house-made-of-mushrooms-being-grown-in-new-york/

Figure 80.1 - Johns Hopkins Centre for Psychedelic Research, About, https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/