Inquiry into Biomaterial Architectures

Contemporary projects and ideas are emerging in the field of architecture that move away from traditional unsustainable building materials and embrace design, fabrication, and circular strategies through radical biomaterial architectures. In this seminar, students will identify knowledge gaps in biomaterial architectures research through lectures and case studies followed by tactile exploration with class visits by the Penn Materials Library.  

This seminar is taught twice a year. In the Fall, teams experiment with synthesizing and manufacturing new biomaterial composites in a scaled shell or a brick system structure through a hands-on guided research project at DumoLab's facilities with special attention to functional, environmental, and aesthetic dimensions. In Spring, students propose new biomaterial systems through a speculative grant-proposal-like guided research project with attention to social and cultural aspects of futuristic visions while partnering with the BioDesignChallenge (BDC) to provide opportunities of project growth and mentorship beyond the semester.