BIG DESIGNS BESPOKE MODULAR CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM COMBINING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, PLASTIC WASTE AND MYCELIUM

Born out of a desire to innovate the construction industry, BIG and AM Hub explore a new methodology for the application of additive manufacturing that optimizes print time and material usage with a composite system design. The result is I AM MSHRM, a rapidly deployable and easily assembled system consisting of 3D printed frame elements, made from plastic waste and locally sourced sugarcane and cornstarch, filled with mycelium. The frame elements are bespoke in geometry, yet modular in their assembly logic and are printed as a structural exoskeleton that is completed by the mycelium composite grown within, adding rigidity and enclosure. The system is designed to be further developed to be utilized in a future rapidly deployable emergency shelter system and eventually a complete building. “In collaboration with AM Hub, we researched and developed a 3D printed deployable, innovative frame system filled with mycelium. The goal has been to develop a new system of building that can do more with less. Less construction waste because printing eliminates the need for molds and scaffolds, less organic waste because our building literally takes trash and turns it into building blocks and less carbon because we have invented a bio-based plastic panel system that optimizes material properties.” – Catherine Huang, Partner, BIG