SKIN MACHINE

Studio Theodore Spyropoulos

Tutors Apostolos Despotidis, Octavian Mihai Gheorghiu, Hanjun Kim

Team Arya Gupta, Hemant Jindal, Muna Abbas, Zeinab Muneam

The elemental challenges our notion of architecture, intervening with the fundamentals and creating a system that co-exists with the environment. Skin Machine is exploring these aspects as a form of technology. Through experimenting with bacterial cellulose, a material produced by a strain of bacteria we investigated this type of material contingency.   

 Artificial human systems are threatening life on earth. While artificial systems created by humans may be toxic, biological systems have been sustaining themselves for millions of years, without harming the environment. Thus, team Skin Machine explores potential collaboration with different species and possible uses of biological responsive systems to sustain life.   

 Skin Machine is makes use of bacteria as our elemental living being. The cause behind the evolution and amongst the oldest living beings, these microorganisms play an important part in sustaining life and the ecosystem, even at present. More specifically, we have focused our research on biofilm called bacterial cellulose, which is produced by acetobacteraceae, a specific strain of bacteria.   

 This material can be locally grown, environmentally friendly, and importantly is self-generated. We developed a clear understanding of this material’s main properties, strengths and weaknesses points, and pertinently its limitations. In further development of the material research, we explored the deployment of bacterial cellulose in architecture. One of the main possibilities is in augmented performative skin on the facades of existing buildings.  These performative skins are additional building façade elements which augment and improve the energy efficiency performance of the buildings in terms of their heat gain and overall energy consumption.  We utilized the discovered material properties to develop a façade system, focusing on this material’s ability to adapt and change with the surrounding environment.  The project suggests indefinite possibilities, through the replacement and enhancement of the traditional building materials, by augmenting building facades with performative biological skins.