ResArch Lab: The Mycelium Project (Part 1)

*This event will be occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program.*

ResArch Lab: The Mycelium Project – Exploring the potential of fungi for the decarbonization of residential building components

AIANY Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN) is looking ahead to the next century and the new frontier of environmentally-sensitive custom residential architecture—the decarbonization of structural and non-structural building components. ResArch Lab (RA Lab): The Mycelium Project (Part 1) is an introduction to building structures with mycelium in the context of residential architecture.

Mycelium, the thread-like structures (hyphae) in fungi, is an innovate building material with exceptional qualities that allow this biomaterial to stack, span, and hang, actions commonly known in residential work. Through an in-depth analysis of virtual case studies, the audience will hear from architects and engineers about topics specific to the growing and building of residential components from mycelium. What are their structural actions and historical precedents and how can they be explained computationally with 3D modeling and simulation? What is the interplay between mycelium’s material properties, structural forms, and fabrication process? Speakers will establish the parameters, metrics ,and goals for each structural form that will later be grown into tangible structures for a future potential site.

This introductory program will provide the audience with tools to partake in a two-part workshop on April 14 and June 2 (more information to come), where they will be able to grow their own mycelium forms and follow the trajectory of “The Mycelium Project,” where residential components grown from fungi will be assembled in a real space later in 2021.

Speakers:
Jonathan Dessi-Olive, Assistant Professor of Architecture in Design and Structures, Kansas State University
Nat Oppenheimer, PE, LEED AP, Executive Vice President, Senior Principal, Silman
Rebecca Buntrock, PE, LEED AP BD+C, Associate, Silman
Omid Oliyan, PhD, Senior Computational Designer, Silman

About the speakers:
Jonathan Dessi-Olive is a researcher, designer, and educator. His work takes a critical approach to technology while integrating the history and theory of architecture, contemporary construction, and computational design. Presently he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at Kansas State University, where he teaches architecture studios, seminars, and structural design.

Nat Oppenheimer joined Silman in 1988 and has extensive experience in the areas of new construction, renovation, sustainable engineering, and historic preservation as Principal in Charge of much of the firm’s institutional, private residential and educational work. Since 2013, he has been an active participant of the Industry Advisory Group for the US Department of Statue Bureau of Overseas Building Operations. He is also a member of the Grace Farms Foundation Architecture + Construction Working Group, an interdisciplinary group of A/E leaders who are advocating to end the use of modern slavery in the supply chain and labor for the built environment.

Rebecca Buntrock joined Silman in 2010 and was promoted to Associate in 2018. As a studio leader, she has managed a variety of projects for all types of building construction and has a special expertise in historic preservation and existing buildings. She was the sixth Robert Silman Fellow for Preservation Engineering at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Buntrock is active in industry organizations and currently serves as the President of the Association for Preservation Technology, Northeast Chapter (APTNE).

Omid Oliyan joined Silman in 2020. Oliyan’s research explores new possibilities at the intersection of design and technology towards the development of more integrative design‐build processes. Trained as both an engineer and designer, he uses applied research, analytical methods, and digital technologies to solve design and engineering problems. His research has been published in both architectural and engineering publications and at conferences including SimAUD, IASS, CAD, IEEE and TxA Emerging Design and Technology. As an educator, Oliyan has taught courses and seminars in design and technology at the University of Michigan and Lawrence Technological University.