Mitchell Joachim: Don't build your home, grow it!

TL;DR

This talk discusses the concept of growing homes using pleaching and tissue engineering, merging architecture and biology to create sustainable and environmentally friendly living spaces.

Transcript

Why grow homes? Because we can. Right now, America is in an unremitting state of trauma. And there's a cause for that, all right. We've got McPeople, McCars, McHouses. As an architect, I have to confront something like this. So what's a technology that will allow us to make ginormous houses? Well, it's been around for 2,500 years. It's called pleac... Read More

Key Insights

• 🏘️ The speaker discusses the concept of growing homes, using grafting techniques and CNC technology to create environmentally friendly and carbon-neutral structures that seamlessly blend with the landscape.
• 🌳 These "Fab Tree Habs" can be pre-grown over several years, creating entire green villages that are in harmony with nature.
• 🧪 The speaker's architecture office is also experimenting with regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, envisioning a future where architecture and biology merge.
• 🖨️ They use a modified inkjet printer to print geometry using extracellular matrix from pigs, creating industrial design objects such as shoes and handbags without harming any sentient creature.
• 🏠 The speaker presents a proposal for a "meat house" where fatty cells serve as insulation, cilia assist with wind loads, and sphincter muscles operate doors and windows, highlighting the possibility of unconventional building materials and designs.
• 📚 A major exhibit of their work in Prague aimed to stimulate discussion between religion and the concept of a "house of meat," provoking contemplation on the future of architecture.
• 🌎 Growing homes not only provides sustainable and carbon-sucking living spaces but also offers the potential to transform suburban areas and redefine the relationship between humans and the environment.
• 🔬 The speaker's lab's focus on merging architecture and biology has the potential to revolutionize the construction industry and create innovative, environmentally friendly solutions for future housing needs.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does pleaching technology create homes that fit into the environment?

Pleaching, a technique that grafts trees together, is used in conjunction with CNC technology and scaffolding to train plants into specific geometries, resulting in homes that seamlessly blend with the natural surroundings.

Q: What is the potential environmental benefit of growing homes?

When homes are grown using pleaching, they serve as carbon sinks, effectively reducing carbon emissions. Additionally, by integrating homes into the natural landscape, it is possible to create sustainable communities that reduce the need for suburban expansion.

Q: How is tissue engineering being used in architecture?

Tissue engineering is being explored as a way to grow architectural elements, such as extracellular matrix from pigs, and create industrial designs without the need for harming sentient creatures. This opens up possibilities for using tissue engineering in the construction of future homes.

Q: How can tissue engineering benefit the fashion industry?

By using tissue engineering techniques, it is possible to create materials like leather, shoes, and handbags without causing harm to animals. This opens up the potential for a more sustainable and ethical fashion industry.

Q: What are the challenges in the acceptance of grown homes?

One of the challenges in the acceptance of grown homes is the perception of their aesthetics. While the speaker acknowledges that their proposed meat house design is visually unappealing, they highlight the potential of integrating natural elements and functionality to create more aesthetically pleasing and sustainable structures.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The speaker introduces the concept of growing homes using pleaching, a technique that grafts trees together to create a unique and sustainable architectural structure.

• The use of CNC technology and scaffolding allows for the training of plants into specific geometries, creating homes that fit into and become a part of the natural environment.

• The talk also explores the idea of using tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to grow architectural elements and objects, envisioning a future where architecture and biology merge.