A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Viscous Boundaries: Algae-laden scaffolds for the built environment
This thesis investigates the creation of new living membranes for architecture. It explores the design and fabrication of large-scale photosynthetic panels made of water-based algae-laden biological materials. The research begins by recognising natural processes as fluid processes within which the temporal stabilities of growth and decay are actively integrated. This allows to reimagine building materials as fluid systems assembled across scales of magnitude, thereby creating a transitory ‘viscous’ zone that establishes a continuum between the object of artificial ecosystems (architecture) with the subject of the environment (nature). Situated at the intersection of architecture and biochemical engineering, the work delves on the pivotal role of viscosity in water-based polymeric materials to support biological activity. Hydrogels are shown to exhibit cell-friendly environments on the microscale, while being able to construct a hierarchical composite with structural and chemical stability on the macroscale. The hydrogel’s viscous properties are crucial for scale-up fabrication through techniques of additive manufacturing and casting. Morphological investigations have led to a series of large-scale scaffolds, with varying properties ranging from homogenous ‘biolayers’ to the heterogenous ‘biohybrids’. Each were designed to optimise the performance of microalgal cells and their relative photosynthetic activity as they performed applications such as bioremediation, biosorption and biophotovoltaics. The workflow developed through this thesis illustrates the possibility of applying biocompatible structures made of viscous biomaterials in the built environment.
Viscous Boundaries: Algae-laden scaffolds for the built environment
This thesis investigates the creation of new living membranes for architecture. It explores the design and fabrication of large-scale photosynthetic panels made of water-based algae-laden biological materials. The research begins by recognising natural processes as fluid processes within which the temporal stabilities of growth and decay are actively integrated. This allows to reimagine building materials as fluid systems assembled across scales of magnitude, thereby creating a transitory ‘viscous’ zone that establishes a continuum between the object of artificial ecosystems (architecture) with the subject of the environment (nature). Situated at the intersection of architecture and biochemical engineering, the work delves on the pivotal role of viscosity in water-based polymeric materials to support biological activity. Hydrogels are shown to exhibit cell-friendly environments on the microscale, while being able to construct a hierarchical composite with structural and chemical stability on the macroscale. The hydrogel’s viscous properties are crucial for scale-up fabrication through techniques of additive manufacturing and casting. Morphological investigations have led to a series of large-scale scaffolds, with varying properties ranging from homogenous ‘biolayers’ to the heterogenous ‘biohybrids’. Each were designed to optimise the performance of microalgal cells and their relative photosynthetic activity as they performed applications such as bioremediation, biosorption and biophotovoltaics. The workflow developed through this thesis illustrates the possibility of applying biocompatible structures made of viscous biomaterials in the built environment.
Viscous Boundaries: Algae-laden scaffolds for the built environment
Malik, Shneel (author)
2022-04-28
Doctoral thesis, UCL (University College London).
Theses
Electronic Resource
English
DDC:
720
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