With Help of Fungi a Master Thesis by Martin Hendeberg
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WITH HELP OF FUNGI A MASTER THESIS BY MARTIN HENDEBERG 24 APRIL 2020 UMA 5, Studio 13 TUTORS: Sara Thor, Amalia Katopodis WORD COUNT: 8540 Tom Dobson, Andrew Belfield THESIS QUESTION How can fungi help with creating an architectural intervention within the planetary boundaries? Looking at possible solutions at three different levels: architecture, food and waste management ABSTRACT Before we were a small world on a big planet, which meant that the planet could handle human’s exploitation of it. However, now we are a big world on a small planet; the Earth is under enormous pressure with our over-exploitation. Scientist realized that we need to get a better understanding of Earth’s systems, how they relate and what their limits are. The planetary boundaries framework was created. The only way to be sustainable is to keep within those boundaries. There is a need for innovative solutions based on nature. The purpose of the thesis is to find solutions based on nature that can help us stay within the planetary boundaries and make the relationship between the technosphere and the biosphere more mutualistic. Research has shown that fungi have potential within a wide range of areas. Some examples of these are: some important medicines come from fungi; fungi can be used to remediate contam- inated habitats; with fungi, you can create different kinds of meat substitutes and cultivate edi- ble mushrooms; with fungi, you can create materials such as mycelium composites and leather substitutes. This study is looking at what role these applications of fungi can play in creating an architectural intervention within the planetary boundaries. However, the focus is on mycelium composites, cultivating edible mushrooms and fungi’s ability to restore contaminated habitats. A qualitative method has been used for this study. It consisted of a series of case studies investi- gating how fungi can be utilized; growing fungi at home to get a better understanding of them and mycelium composites; applying the knowledge from previous methods on the design of an architectural intervention in Umeå. The architectural intervention is a fungi factory located in lokstallarna, in Umeå. It uses the already existing building and adds an extension made of a wooden structure with mycelium composite insulation. The fungi factory uses waste created in Umeå to cultivate mushrooms and create my- celium composites. It is also a place that conducts research about fungi and has a public part focused on spreading knowledge about fungi. Using material digestible by fungi and using mycelium composites opens the possibility of an ar- chitecture that starts with humans gathering resources from the biosphere and end with us giving back nutrients and material to the biosphere allowing it to create more resources and sustain itself; a circular life cycle that connects the technosphere and the biosphere. TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER 1 1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANS AND BIOSPHERE: 1 WHY FUNGI? 2 THESIS QUESTION: 2 METHODOLOGY: 2 CHAPTER 2 3 PLANETARY BOUNDARIES 3 FUNGI USES: 7 GROWING FUNGI 7 MYCORESTORATION 8 MYCELIUM COMPOSITE 10 FUNNGI PRODUCTION: 11 SAXTORP SVAMP 11 MYCOTERRA FARM 12 CASCADIA MUSHROOMS 13 FUNGI EXPLORATION 14 CHAPTER 3 18 ARCHITECTURAL INTERVENTION USING FUNGI: 18 FROM STRATEGY TO PROGRAM: 18 THE BUILDING AND ITS LIFE CYCLE: 21 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: 23 BIBLIOGRAPHY 25 ILLUSTRATIONS 26 CHAPTER 1 Relationship between humans and biosphere: The biosphere consists of all living organisms and the regions of the earth that they occupy; ac- cording to this definition, the biosphere includes humans.1 The first humans started making tools and having an increasing impact on the surrounding environment. We had created the tech- nosphere. The Oxford English dictionary’s definition of the technosphere is that it’s “the sphere or realm of human technological activities”.2 According to UNESCO’s definition “it comprises not just our machines, but us humans too, and the professional and social systems by which we interact with technology”. Through the creation of the technosphere, human began seeing themselves as separate from the biosphere.3 We have come to a point where we are dependent on the technosphere. The way it works today it is a parasite on the biosphere; these relationships are non-sustainable, destructive and lead to for example environmental problems, species extinction wildland destruction.4 Our economic system is based on growth without limits. This worked as long as we were a small society on a big planet but now, we have outgrown the planet this is no longer a valid mindset. We have started seeing consequences for our over-exploitation of the planet. Scientists are real- izing more and more how everything is connected and intertwined and we need to rethink our relationship with nature.5 How we deal with the environmental problems depends on how we perceive our relationship with the biosphere. Do we see nature as our property and as a tool to use for our benefit or does it have intrinsic value, value aside from the way it can benefit humans? In other words, different environmental ethics end up with different solutions to environmental problems. Anthropocentric and ecocentric are two ways to look at nature and our relationship with it. Anthropocentric was coined in the 1860s at the time of the controversy of Darwin’s evolution theory. It sees humans as the most important life form and the centre of the universe; because degrading or preserving nature can in turn benefit or harm humans it has moral consideration.6 This viewpoint leads to realizations such as that the planet has different boundaries and we need to be aware of them and stay within them; our economy can’t grow without limits, it needs to grow within limits to be sustainable.7 Ecocentric comes from biocentric ethics that was coined in 1913 by American bi- ochemist Lawrence Henderson and represents the idea that the originator of life is the universe. It was adopted by “deep ecologist” in the 1970s. The base of ecocentric ethics is the idea that all parts of the biosphere have intrinsic value, not just value from the ways it can benefit humans. This is why nature has moral consideration.8 With an ecocentric view you see humans as a part of the biosphere and it could result in solutions like interspecies relationships that benefit all parties or interventions that benefit animals or plants more than humans.9 “To bring change, we need to reshape man’s approach to nature; this can only be done by bridging the gap between science and art, between the rational and the emotional”.10 Mattias klum and Johan Rockström took a step in this direction with their book “Big world, small plant: välfärd inom planetens gränser”. Architecture is an interesting tool that works in both areas, sci- ence and art. It has the potential of intertwining science and art, the rational and the emotional. 1 Biosphere. Oxford English Dictionary. November 2010. https://www-oed-com.proxy.ub.umu.se/view/Entry/19253?redirected- From=biosphere#eid (Access date: 2019-10-09) 2 Technosphere. Oxford English Dictionary. https://www-oed-com.proxy.ub.umu.se/view/Entry/198460?redirectedFrom=techno- sphere#eid19090813 (Access date: 2020-03-04) 3 Zalasiewicz, Jan. The unbearable burden of the technosphere. UNESCO. 2018. https://en.unesco.org/courier/2018-2/unbeara- ble-burden-technosphere (Access date: 2020-03-04) 4 Appendix A 5 Appendix A 6 Kortenkamp, KVV, & CFF Moore, ‘Ecocentrism and anthropocentrism: Moral reasoning about ecological commons dilemmas’. in Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21, 2001, 262. 7 Appendix A 8 Kortenkamp, KVV, & CFF Moore, ‘Ecocentrism and anthropocentrism: Moral reasoning about ecological commons dilemmas’. in Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21, 2001, 261–272. 9 Appendix A 10 Rockström, J, M Klum, A Allwood, I Elmerot, & M Andersson, Big world, small planet : välfärd inom planetens gränser. Stockholm : Max Ström, 2015, 10 1 This thesis is looking into what fungi can do together with architecture. Why fungi? The estimated number of different fungi species are between one and two million and some think that there are even more somewhere between 10 and 30 million different species.11 In 2013 scien- tists had identified 50 000 to 100 000 different species and around 10 000 of them exist in Sweden; with our eyes we can only see 4000 to 5000 of them.12 The body of the fungi isn’t the mushroom that we usually associate with fungi, that is only the fruitbody that some fungi use to spread their spores and reproduce. The body is the mycelium which is a network of threads called hyphae. Together they create a vast network that scientists call “wood wide web”. Research has shown that fungi have great potential in a wide range of areas: • Some of our most important medicines come from fungi e.g. penicillin (a group of antibi- otics) and cyclosporin (an immunosuppressant used to prevent rejection of transplanted livers, kidneys, or hearts). • Fungi are able to restore contaminated environments by breaking down contaminants and absorbing heavy metals. This is called mycorestoration. • Meat substitutes can be made from fungi and some mushrooms can be eaten by humans. • You can create materials with the help of fungi. The mycelium binds together a substrate and together they form a composite material. People have also made clothes out of my- celium and a leather substitute.13 Fungi can be divided into three groups: Saprotroph, mycorrhiza and parasitic. Saprotrophs de- compose dead organic material.14 They are the easiest kind of fungi to grow and can be used for mycorestoration, food and create materials. Thanks to this, saprotrophs can utilize waste to create something new and work towards a circular economy.