In 2019, we plan to build an experimental pavilion in order to observe our living façade research within a full-scale test.

We are considering different possible urban locations where the pavilion’s façade could develop long enough for us to observe the evolutions of the cladding material along the gradual apparition of fauna and flora.

 

 

We consider this pavilion as both a research tool and an observation site.

It will consist of pre-fabricated concrete elements, making its assembly and disassembly easy and fast. The construction will not have any significant impact upon its environment.

 

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Recent collaborative workshops for the FAIRE! research project on the 26/27^th March 2018

 

 On March 26th and 27th 2018 ChartierDalix Architects held two experimental workshops in keeping with our current research project developed through the “FAIRE!” accelerator for urban projects. We welcomed Maurizio Montalti, founder of Officina Corpuscoli, whose work investigates possible uses of “mycelium” in the fields of art and design. “Mycelium” refers to the fungus’ vegetative forms, a root system comprised of filaments producing cells through the decomposition of organic matter.Varied creatives and designers are interested in this organic product, for the following reasons:

• Production of organic matter
•  Possibility to guide and control this matter production
• Soil decontamination
• Interesting properties such as its lightweight, resilience or aesthetic aspect

 

Since 2010, Officina Corpuscoli has been working along with scientists to develop mycelium based architectural products such as tiling or insulating panels.

 

 

 

These workshops aim to observe mycelium’s potential to enrich its environment, especially regarding the sustainability of green walls and their substrate.

The material we incorporated to the prototypes was laboratory-prepared by Maurizio. It is made up of two particularly interesting types of mycelium, TRAMETES MULTICOLOR and PLEUROTUS OSTREATUS. The fungi were bagged with wood dust and chaff on which they “fed”, in order to anticipate their development for the purpose of the experiment. Potato starch and water were added to Maurizio’s preparation to quicken the colonisation process.

We then applied this “paste” onto different selected surfaces:

• Block prototypes already provided with substrate
• Cardboard prototypes
• Fishnet prototypes

The prototypes were then protected from light for fifteen days (required time for the fungi to develop). They were then unwrapped, and we were able to observe the mycelium colonisation process on these different surfaces, and are now drawing conclusions for further research works about architecture and biodiversity.

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Within the scope of the call-for-projects FAIRE* run by Pavillon de l’Arsenal, we were selected in April 2017 to develop a think-tank for inventing new methods of hosting biodiversity in the urban environment. Following upon our research experience for the Boulogne school, we wish to develop a system of durable façades that evolve over time and allow the perennial habitation of local fauna and flora without the need for maintenance or technical savoir-faire. This means rethinking our relationship with the building envelope so that it welcomes instead of blocking nature while maintaining its necessary thermal and structural performance.

*FAIRE / First accelerator for urban projects and innovative architecture / Destined for architects engaged in research, whether experienced or not, as well as students and architecture schools. FAIRE aims to accelerate the hatching of new architectural and urban practices by facilitating the realisation of large-scale prototypes for Grand Paris. The use of applied research, new processes, materials and methods of construction are encouraged.

**FAIRE : To make, or to do; to play, to make happen, to come about and to last.

A Team

The research team is composed of members who have each within their own domains tested and carried out methodologies on enhancing biodiversity. Because of this experience, we are already equipped already with a set of tools which allows us today to set the necessary conditions to create a new prototype of urban biodiversity.

 

ChartierDalix
Architects / designers

Philippe Clergeau

Professor at the Natural History Museum, Paris / Urban Ecology consultant

NatureParif

Regional research unit for nature and biodiversity

Topager

Urban farming enterprise

 

A first partner:

The company CEMEX, a major producer of cement, aggregates, and concrete has shown particular interest in the project and a close collaboration has been proposed with their Research and Development lab.

The idea to create a first set of prototypes which allow us to envision the particularities and advantages of concrete: manipulability, integration of structural, thermal and vegetal elements, possibility to fabricate hybrid structures, integration of organic and innovative materials.

We have since initiated a first series of studies at the CEMEX Swiss research laboratory.

 

Experience of the Lab

Our trip to the CEMEX research laboratory in Biel, Switzerland which allowed us to experiment with several types of concrete, integrating pockets of substrate in the concrete casting process and voids to create different accidental spaces and conditions for growth of various flora and fauna within the façade.

We brought back to Paris the first prototype, fondly named FAIRE. Sliced into two parts, it allows us to follow and observe the germination and evolution of the interconnected vegetal network within these soil balls casted in the concrete.

 

While we wait…

Before we start the second series of prototypes; we have sown seeds in the FAIRE prototype with the Topager team and we are now observing its evolution.

First observations: the porous concrete used for the exterior layer doesn’t allow the water to stay long enough inside the block. With the winter in Paris, the germinated seeds will enter hibernation…

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