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Architects: Yong Ju Lee Architecture
- Area: 15 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Yong Ju Lee Architecture
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Lead Architects: Yong Ju Lee
Text description provided by the architects. Moss Column is a prototype to examine how to combine living organisms with architecture. A renewed perspective on the built environment has increased in the period following COVID-19. Even though various methods have been employed for sustainable design, the construction material itself in contemporary architecture has remained largely unchanged for some time. In this experiment, I am now presenting a direct embedding approach of plants into artificial materials.
Mosses, chosen as the primary plant for these experiments, are suitable due to their non-vascular nature, which means they do not grow tall like other plants and use roots solely for anchoring rather than nourishment. To investigate high-res and complicated patterns for embedding, geometry is manipulated and generated through computational design tools. Advanced construction technologies are employed to realize the complex forms: such as a large-scale 3D printer with an industrial robotic arm.
The experiment represents an updated approach to seamlessly merge natural life with manmade structures, capturing the visual representation of artificial structures blending harmoniously with natural elements, mimicking the organic dissolution process. The mathematical model known as a reaction-diffusion system is used to describe the spatial and temporal changes in the concentration of one or more chemical substances.
Through the design algorithm derived from this model, an overall vertical form is generated, with the foreground (moss) merging into its background (3D printed structure) over a height of 3,000 mm. To achieve effective large-scale 3D printing, Fused Granulate Fabrication (FGF) is utilized, with an extruder operated at the end of a 6-axis robotic arm (ABB IRB-4600) and a nozzle size of 2mm for PLA pellets. This vertically stacking fabrication process becomes a design constraint, influencing the establishment of a custom workflow.
This attempt provides an active and radical solution for integrating organic and inorganic matter through a single-body geometric system. It highlights the interaction and exchange of respiratory and photosynthetic byproducts between people and nature. The utilization of eco-friendly architectural techniques in conjunction with moss is anticipated to bring significant transformations to the future construction industry. This presents the potential for sustainable implementation in the digital era by establishing new relationships among digital, physical, and, furthermore, natural elements. This paves the way for a harmonious coexistence between urban environments and the natural world.
