The world and we, are a part of it, have caused a great deal of damage to our living nest with rapid consumption and population growth in recent years, and we continue to do so. Architecture in the adventure of life, where everything is interconnected and interactive, should carry out its role of environmental awareness and undertake innovative and sensitive works.
Depending on the necessity of developing more environmentally friendly and sustainable building systems and tools, Neri Oxman and her team, who continue their work and are experts in their field; continue their studies at the intersection of computational design, digital fabrication, and materials science and synthetic ecology. It does this by using biology and technology together, in compliance with environmental sustainability principles.
Bio-architecture is inspired by the structure of nature, it examines its working principle and tries to create sustainable solutions in buildings. It imitates the working system of nature because it knows that nature has already solved the problems we have experienced and proceeds in this direction. Bio-architecture also has a multi-disciplinary structure and diversity in the form and scale of production.
Neri Oxman continues her studies in this field. "Aguahoja", one of Neri Oxman's latest works, was brought to life between 2014 and 2020, and the most abundant biopolymer in nature was used in its construction. In the construction of the bio-architecture shell, 5740 leaves, 6500 apple peels and 3135 shrimp shells were used. The produced shells were exhibited in two pavilions with two separate working groups. Studies addressing different points in each were carried out in Aguahoja I and Aguahoja II groups.
3D printing printers were used in the construction of the leather-like pavilion shell of Aguahoja, which takes its inspiration from the tree, the most fascinating structure of nature. 3D Printer creates the desired shape by processing the organic matter with water. Then, the water in the shell that the printer processes evaporates over time and hardens. The shell, which can reach a height of five meters in total, becomes resistant to external effects after hardening.
Biocomposite leather and a polymeric skeleton made of organic material is a structure that responds to external factors, unlike artificial materials such as concrete and cement. For this reason, the bioarchitecture shell takes shape depending on the environmental factors during its formation and may experience deterioration due to these factors later on. In the case of rainy weather, the shell contact with water will melt and mix with the soil and zero waste will be obtained from production to zero consumption.
As Neri Oxman suggests, we should develop systems using edible and biodegradable polymers for the design and fabrication of multi-scale structures with complex geometries. Especially, the rapid replacement of plastic products with their biopolymer counterparts will be a good start for this development.
