MycoTree, 2017
Mycelium and bamboo
100 x 100 x 150 cm

Courtesy Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Faculty of Architecture

The MycoTree is the result of a collaboration between the Chair of Sustainable Construction at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Block Research Group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, and the Department of Alternative Construction Materials at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore.

The Frankfurter Kunstverein is showcasing one of the prototypes of the exhibit, which was presented as a central work at the 2017 Seoul Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism. MycoTree illustrates how regenerative resources, combined with architectural planning, have the potential to create alternatives to established methods, and building materials for a more sustainable, bio-based construction industry. To achieve the requisite stability in construction, such sturdy traditional materials as metal and concrete are no longer relied upon, given their heavy ecological footprint and depletion of planetary resources. Instead, KIT focuses on stability through modified geometric design in the planning process. Led by Prof. Dipl. Arch. Dirk E. Hebel, a professor in the Department of Design and Sustainable Construction at the Faculty of Architecture at KIT, intensive research is being conducted on sustainable processes and materials for the construction industry.

The MycoTree is a model-like, spatial branching structure that was constructed from various mycelium and bamboo components. The name MycoTree refers to its tree-like structure. The form serves as a model of natural geometry, which is then further developed and calculated by architects and with the 3D-Graphic-Statics program. Within the MycoTree structure, modular components were attached using connectors made from bamboo, likewise a renewable resource.

The MycoTree is composed of organic materials. The white construction modules are made from residues of agricultural, forestry, or textile industries, held together by mycelium. The main production steps envisage particularly controlled conditions so that the living fungus finds optimal growth conditions. The organic residues are sterilized, fungal spores are added to them, and the mass is left to grow at 30 degrees Celsius for several weeks. If activation of the fungus is successful, it can grow at a rate of one to five centimeters per day and colonize the substrate. Once the mycelium has fully penetrated the substrate, growth is halted through drying and subsequent compression. The root filaments of the fungus compact the originally loose substrate into a solid form, replacing thereby the need for toxic adhesives. This also makes the material completely biodegradable. The shape of the containers in which the fungus grows determines the final shape of the module, as well as the success of the living fungus growth process.

These mycelium modules are connected to bamboo parts using connectors to increase the stability of the object. Bamboo is also a rapidly growing plant that can grow up to one meter in height per day. It is flexible and robust, and has played a central role in Asian construction for centuries, including in modern high-rise construction. Unlike trees, bamboo requires less water, no fertilizers, and grows much faster.

However, mycelium material is neither particularly flexible nor tensile. For this reason, a form of innovative architectural and structural planning needs to be developed with the characteristics of organic materials. The MycoTree was created as a prototype and module at KIT Karlsruhe to test its load-bearing capacity.

International research has been conducted on the method of mycelium preparation from organic waste for years, and patents filed. Today, numerous methods and suppliers of different materials exist, whose texture range from light but crumbly to hard and compact. These meet various construction project and interior design needs, such as sound absorption, low flammability, sealing properties, or the ability to be pigmented. In biochemical terms, during their growth both the fungus and the bamboo plant bind nitrogen and carbon, which are stored in cellulose.

The 21st century is on the brink of a radical paradigm shift in how we produce materials for building our living spaces. The linear concept of “produce, use, and dispose” has proven unsustainable for living on the planet in future, given the scarcity of resources and exponential growth of urban populations. To achieve a circular cycle of production, entailing use and reuse, alternative materials and construction methods must be explored and then implemented.

A shift in mindset has occurred in the international architecture context, as shown by the 2023 Venice Biennale for Architecture. However, neither construction practices and the supply industry, nor regulatory and political frameworks reflect the transition to a new way of building. Rapid urbanization, global resource consumption, and the associated ecosystem destruction remain some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.

Prof. Dipl. Arch. Dirk E. Hebel founded the research institute he leads in the belief that a paradigm shift must urgently make headway in the construction sector. Since 1990 alone, estimated greenhouse gas emissions from the cement industry worldwide have tripled. The global construction industry requires exponentially increasing amounts of wood, water, soil resources and energy. This makes it a major contributor to deforestation, land consumption, water pollution, and non-recyclable construction waste. The extraction of sand that is used in concrete production depletes ecosystems. Sand is taken from rivers, coastlines, and sea beds, leading to habitat destruction for humans, animals and plants.

With a growing population and rising demands, the need for materials and resources to satisfy them is also increasing. While in the past, this demand on resources was met locally and regionally, it is now becoming increasingly global and far-reaching. This phenomenon has led to the emergence of material flows of transcontinental and planetary significance. These have profound implications for the sustainability, functioning, ownership and identity of future cities. The global concentration of the construction industry on a few select materials is putting significant pressure on our natural resources, however. In any discussion of cities of the future, it becomes that clear that they cannot be constructed with the same resources as those employed in existing cities.

Like many other participants in Bending the Curve, Dirk Hebel is an active advocate for circular economic models. This approach views materials as precious, finite resources and actively promotes their reuse and conservation. Efficiently using resources, minimizing waste, extending the lifecycle of products, and promoting material recycling: these are all possible strategies. The time for linear models, where products are discarded after use, must be left behind. A circular economy, a culture based on repair, or at the very least recycling, would have to be promoted politically to ensure that our planet remains inhabitable into the future.

MYRIAD. Installation, 2023
Fourteen modules, five seating blocks, two seating benches made of wood, Resysta, Ytong, coated with coloured concrete
Various sizes

Interactive projection mapping on three carbon modules, floor projection, reactive multi-channel audio installation

MYRIAD. Virtual Reality Experience, 2023
Virtual Reality Application
Each story 10 min
Presentation module, one seating block made of wood, coated with coloured concrete
Various sizes

360° 3D Documentation, 2021
Stationary Virtual-Reality Station with two videos
10:09 min
Presentation module, one seating block made of wood, coated with coloured concrete
Various sizes

Courtesy MYRIAD. Where we connect., Interactive Media Foundation and Filmtank, in co-creation with Miiqo Studios, Context Film and Artificial Rome

Every year, a myriad of living beings traverses our planet. Their migrations, orchestrated in regular rhythms, choreograph the life of our planet like that of a pulsating superorganism. The decisions animals make on their journeys, the ways they interact with the ever-changing environment, and the consequences of their migrations on ecosystems are all reshaping our understanding of the interdependency of all living creatures and the shared spaces they inhabit. The natural sciences explore these connections, which also resonate interpretatively in the social sciences and philosophy. Ancient stories and myths in different cultures have long told of the completeness that binds all living beings.

MYRIAD. Where we connect. is an immersive, multimedia installation at the intersection of art, science and storytelling. This walk-through, interactive project celebrates its premiere in the exhibition Bending the Curve – Knowing, Acting, Caring for Biodiversity, alongside the previously successful VR experience and a 360° 3D documentary. The work allows us to adopt the perspective of individual animals, taking us along on their long journeys across the continents of earth.

In the internationally acclaimed Virtual Reality experience MYRIAD. Where we connect., visitors follow the migrations of a green sea turtle, a female Arctic fox, and a group of northern bald ibises. Each journey combines scientific knowledge with moving images and visual information about the animals’ routes through a world increasingly influenced by human activity.

The 360° 3D film, which is also award-winning, shows the flight of the northern bald ibises over the Alps and their successful reintegration into their natural habitat. The spectacular footage was made with the help of an ultralight aircraft.

A central element of MYRIAD. Where we connect. is carbon. Over eons of the cosmos, this fundamental element arose in the hearts of stars through the fusion of helium. It arrived on our planet from space through countless asteroid impacts, becoming the chemical building block of life. The bodies of all living beings, including plants, fungi, animals and humans, contain this element. Carbon has thus become one of the central design elements of the multimedia art installation. The visual worlds of MYRIAD. Where we connect. are based on black and white charcoal drawings, from which digital animations were created. The forms of carbon’s binding structures live on in the sculptural spatial elements and their tactile, haptic surfaces. All 3D animations and elements of the multimedia installation are monochromatic. They insert fragments of knowledge and give visual artistic expression to data that has been interpreted.

The journeys of individual animals during their migrations are narrated on three large-scale carbon objects. In the overall 22-minute animation, visitors follow the flight routes of animal flocks and the stories of individual species. Amur falcons, monarch butterflies, and common cranes are featured. As one of the elements of animal migrations, air marks the beginning of the exhibition at the Frankfurter Kunstverein. Borders, obstacles, land use, as well as changes in the Earth’s system and polar melting, pose significant challenges to living beings during their migrations.

Made of wood, the installation objects are coated with black-pigmented concrete putty. These materials were sonically deconstructed, captured, and used for the soundscape by means of the audio effect “Convolution Reverb”. The sound characteristics and audio processing of the materials shape the atmosphere, generating novel sounds of material quality.

The sculptural elements of the spatial installation are embedded in a 360-degree soundscape. The acoustic spatial experience follows the concept of Soundscape Ecology. It orchestrates biological sounds (biophony), human sounds (anthropophony), and non-biological but sound-producing natural phenomena. The acoustic ecosystem thereby created responds to the presence of visitors in the space, symbolizing the changing influence of humans on their environment.

MYRIAD. Where we connect. was created in close collaboration with an interdisciplinary team. The representations are based on real data from over 20,000 tracked animals migrating in water, on land, and in the air. The data comes from the Movebank database, a long-term project of the Department of Animal Migration at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. MYRIAD. Where we connect. brings together current research content from the fields of animal migration, behavioral biology, climate research and infrastructure development, drawing on the Big Data of the Movebank project, among other sources. Abstracted data and information are transformed into experiences through art, creating a connection between people’s imagination and awareness of the global interconnectivity of our planet’s ecosystems.

MYRIAD. Where we connect. is a project of the Interactive Media Foundation and Filmtank in co-creation with Miiqo Studios, Context Film and Artificial Rome. Artistic Direction: Lena Thiele, Sebastian Baurmann and Dirk Hoffmann. The sound design was developed by kling klang klong, the exhibition architecture was designed by unit-berlin.

Interactive Media Foundation gGmbH
The Interactive Media Foundation is a nonprofit organization with a philanthropic mission dedicated to developing socially relevant stories through audiovisual media formats (film, virtual reality, exhibitions). It produces and finances its projects with the help of private foundations and public funds, and carries out distribution in collaboration with various partners. Its work is based on a collaborative creative process and a broad network of partners. The Interactive Media Foundation brings together specialists from various societal areas and combines expertise, insights and techniques from different disciplines to open new, often surprising perspectives on captivating and touching topics. Its productions are showcased at media art and film festivals worldwide and in numerous cultural institutions. Recognition from experts and juries from various fields is reflected in prestigious awards such as the Federal Prize for Cultural Education, the Grand Prix of the Art Directors Club, or inclusion in the Forbes list for outstanding creativity. The Interactive Media Foundation was founded in Berlin in 2013.

Filmtank GmbH
Filmtank is a multiple award-winning production company based in Hamburg, Berlin and Stuttgart. Originally from the documentary film sector, its creators now produce entire thematic universes. Filmtank brings together old masters and young inventors to create new perspectives.

Miiqo Studios UG
Miiqo Studios was founded in Berlin in 2012 and focuses on creating immersive worlds at the intersection of art, science and storytelling. They follow a holistic approach, combining contemporary digital technologies and socially relevant stories to create emotional and touching experiences.

Context Film GmbH
Context Film has stood for sophisticated documentaries, innovative fictional storytelling and high-quality informational films since 2004, exploring diverse and complex realities of life. Their work, freely told and independent in form, breaks traditional thought patterns.

Artificial Rome GmbH
Artificial Rome is a studio for digital design and visual communication with a focus on immersive, interactive experiences. The team has been developing interactive communication formats since 2014 through the fusion of digital technology, creative vision and a clear design signature.

kling klang klong GmbH & Co. KG
The Berlin-based creative studio kling klang klong composes sounds and codes for auditory experiences. The team of composers, sound designers, creative thinkers, scientists and technicians explores new ways to touch people through sound. Their works are present in physical and virtual environments, exhibitions, museums and events internationally.