Mersitem Wall
Venice, Venedig, Italy
2022
bioDigital Matter Lab
Description:
Meristem Wall is a prototype of a fully 3d printed building wall with optimized functionality by bioDigital matter lab of Lundt University.
It is made from sand with voxeljet´s binder jetting technology and Sandhelden´s post-processing. It is further complemented by a custom CNC knitted fabric developed and fabricated by Dr. Mariana Popescu of Block Research Group at ETH Zürich.
The wall incorporates a system of transient and controllable airflows modelled on the physiology of termite mounds. This mechanism allows the wall to act as a climate modulator, regulating, storing and controlling the building's internal climate.
The wall’s geometry and the integrated airflow enables it to function as a biological habitat for a diverse ecosystem, taking the concept of the green wall beyond a monocultural garden.It provides a rich habitat for urban wildlife, providing a range of ecological niches.
The wall is designed using an interdependent model that negotiates the space and relationship between a wide range of functions including utilities such as electric wiring, aesthetic preferences, structural performance, and bioclimatic considerations.
This self-organising simulation is capable of creating unique compositions of space to fit a wide range of context and functional needs.
Info:
The "Meristem Wall" consists of a total of 24 blocks that are plugged together.
The installation was on display at the Biennale Architettura in Venice (Italy) at the ECC Palazzo Mora from May 22nd. to November 21st. 2021.
Technical info:
Material: SH-F01
Category:
Architecture
bioDigital Matter Lab
David Andréen is a senior lecturer at Lund university where he leads the bioDigital Matter research group and is the director of the Master's programme in Digital Architecture and Emergent Futures.
His research concerns archtiecture, digital fabrication and computation, with a particualr interst in how principles of biology can help shape new sustainable paradigms in the design of the built environment. David did his doctorate at the Bartlett, UCL, investigating termite mounds as models for complex, functional form and related principles of emergence and self-organization.
In addition to his current position in Lund, David has taught architecture at Greenwich University and the Bartlett, as well as being an invited critic and workshop leader across the world.
Ana Goidea is a PhD candidate at bioDigital Matter at Lund University, where she investigates the potentials of additive manufacturing in architecture through computational design.
She received her Master of Architecture from CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, after which she has been teaching and working at studios with different strategies for digital fabrication. Her research met with industry through designing and co-fabricating one of the first 3d printed buildings in Europe.
Her work explores the current relationship to the environment through the link between complex geometry and new material systems within digital computation and additive manufacturing technologies.
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