THE BACTERIAL CELLULOSE
COLLABORATIVE SUMMER SCHOOL
KEY INFO
Date: 31 July-4 August 2023
Location: Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE), Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne.
The workshop participants will have access to 1. the OME, HBBE’s experimental building in the heart of the Newcastle University campus, which includes a Lab and Assembly space, and 2. The HBBE Making Workshop
The Summer School is funded by HBBE
Deadline for submission of interest: 30th May 2023
To apply please fill out the form HERE!
We are inviting skilled practitioners to participate in the design and post-growth experimentation and testing of bacterial cellulose, which will inform the ongoing development of a biomaterial prototype for the OME. During the workshop, we will provide insight into the expertise and research of the HBBE in designing and growing living materials for the built environment, alongside min introductions to such skills as digital fabrication, additive manufacturing, parametric design, textile design, and testing.
The workshop will focus on exploring bacterial cellulose (produced from SCOBY- Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) and discovering different methods that can be utilised during the intermediate stage between the production and application of BC. An array of post-production treatments and manipulative processes will be trialled with wet and dry Bacteria Cellulose. Participants will also be supported to integrate other systems such as smart textiles, customized digital systems, or monitoring systems that enhance material interaction. We will also experiment with various physical interventions on the material, such as blending, laser cutting, or magnetization.
Participants will leave the workshop having gained an intimate and practical working knowledge of Bacterial Cellulose a shared experience of testing and manipulating the material’s unique properties, an array of ideas for future applications and a network to support future collaborations.
The participation is free of charge but unfortunately, we will accept only 9 applicants.
OUR INTENTIONS
> Designing, testing, manipulating and fabricating with bacterial cellulose.
> Collecting and analysing the results of our experimentation process.
ACTIVITIES
> Presentations and tutorials by the organisers and potential guests
> Material tinkering with bacterial cellulose
> 3D design and modelling of post-treatment methods
> Environmental monitoring hardware and software
> Data visualisation
REQUIREMENTS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION
- High level of motivation and willingness to work experimentally.
- Ability to collaborate with individuals from different disciplines.
- Interest in bacterial cellulose and biomaterials more generally
WHERE WILL WE GATHER?
The Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE) is a unique research centre that brings together bio-scientists from Northumbria University and architects, designers and engineers from Newcastle University. Our vision is to make built environments which are life-sustaining and sustained by life; a new generation of ‘Living Buildings’. They are responsive to their natural environment; grown using living engineered materials to reduce inefficient industrial construction processes; metabolise their own waste, reduce pollution, generate energy and high-value products and modulate their microbiome to benefit human health and wellbeing. The OME is an experimental building in the heart of the Newcastle University campus, where HBBE researchers come together to collaborate, test and demonstrate their technologies at building scale. The OME consists of a self-contained apartment (the home) situated above a laboratory and enclosed within a protective building envelope. An Assembly space for prototyping and exhibitions allows living prototypes to be tested whilst learning about people’s response to, and interactions with, these new materials and systems. The façade of the OME has been designed to enable a range of material samples, both bio-fabricated and living, to be tested in an external environment and viewed by the public, whilst considering the interaction of the building with its environment.
TEAM
Ruth Morrow is Professor of Biological Architecture. Her research, which is largely practice-based, encompasses both the material, the social and the ecological. It is driven by an inclusive, feminist ethos and uses tactics of creativity, collaboration and critical reflection. She has extensive experience in developing material ideas from concept through to commercialisation, resulting in international funding, design awards, exhibitions and citations. She is an avid learner and most content when learning with others. In her role at the HBBE Ruth will explore all the emerging territories of Biological Architecture, contributing to this new area of knowledge and its application.
Dilan Özkan is an architect and researcher who focuses on working with living systems. She aims to push the limits of traditional architectural production and bring different approaches by discovering new material making processes. Dilan completed an architectural design masters at Pratt Institute in New York, where she was first inspired by the strange aesthetics of living organisms. After this, she worked for the non-profit architecture and urban design group Terreform One. Currently, she is a PhD student and a researcher at Newcastle University.
Karolina Bloch is an architect and researcher, practicing internationally, involved in the interdisciplinary work at the intersection of architectural design, biology and material development for a sustainable built environment. Working on the application of biomaterials in the architectural context, she is particularly interested in the potential of full-scale prototyping as a method for exploration, testing and understanding the properties of biological materials, with a strong focus on the potential architectural applications of bacterial cellulose in the built environment.
