Engineered living materials are an emerging class of Biohybrid materials that offer novel functionalities through living components. These living agents act as ‘material factories’ that form or self assemble the material itself adapting the material performance and function. Studio Biocene's research focusses on how we can design and integrate these materials into our built environment. Through demonstrators and installations we explores the aesthetic and performative qualities of engineered living materials.

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Progress in material science has historically introduced numerous advancements in architecture. While a vast array of synthetic materials for architectural use whave been created, their raw ingredients or end of life have proven problematic. Industrialised manufacturing processes often entail harsh conditions, extreme pH levels and high pressure and temperature, which are highly unsustainable. As the consequences of such processes are progressively becoming tangible, it is a critical time to rethink routes of material creation in order to mitigate some of these effects and consequences. Beyond environmental damage, synthetic materials often exhibit perceptual uniformity when compared to natural ones, undermining certain aspects of human sensory experience. In addition, their imperviousness or anti-microbial qualities have proven to contribute to dysbiosis and the depletion of healthy biodiversity.

Engineered Living Materials have potential to redress some of this imbalance. Within our research we engage in the process of translation - proposing putative routes to scaling up these biotechnologically-produced materials and understanding how and where they may be implemented.

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Biomineralization

Biomineralization in the process through which living systems influence the precipitation of mineral materials. In the same way that shells or bones are formed, some organisms can convert organic material or carbon dioxide into an insoluble form of calcium carbonate. We can work with these organisms tocreate mineralized structural materials for the built environment. Within our work at Studio Biocene we aim to participate in the development of a new generation of materials able to positively participate in the Earth’s cycles and, concurrently, enhance perceptual stimulation.

Our first project to investigate scale up of ELMs has been via the Bioscope. For the installation, a series of large scale cyanobacterially-produced ELMs (c-ELM) were manufactured as part of the doctoral research of Prantar Tamuli at UCL. Resilience of the c-ELM tested in the permeable structure and monitored over a number of months. For more information on the biotechnical development of the c-ELM please see the Tattva website.

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Augmented surfaces

Through simultaneous employment of lab and design experiments, the work uncovers potential routes of applying biomineralisation to produce thin outermost layer of architectural materials. These microscopic biogenic coverings differ from the conventional understanding of architectural coatings through their performative aspects, notably capacity of biogeochemical interaction.

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Material appearance, inherent to the growth process, is further explored with an aim to augment perceptual stimulation through surface-light interactions. Three-dimensional bulkiness and precise ordering within the material microstructure together with biological integration are key principals for biomineralised thin materials to offer performative and perceptual possibilities to address some of the current material challenges in architecture.

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Selected research outputs:

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Patent Application: Tamuli, P.; Parker, B.; Cruz, M.; Salmane, AK; Jotanovic, N. Engineered Living Materials WO2023041933A1

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