Make Like a Leaf

Architecture as Atmosphere

Turning to the biological alchemy that supports almost all life on earth, ‘Make Like a Leaf’ integrates the building blocks of photosynthesis: air, water, and light, into tools for design.

Photosynthesis is the most promising ‘Net-Negative’ technology we know. The material is fabricated through photosynthetic biomineralization, embedded with cyanobacteria that capture carbon from the atmosphere and transform it into a binding mineral. This research focuses on enhancing the material’s photosynthetic efficiency and maintaining its vitality through hydrogel development, nutrient access, and light transmission.

The result is a carbon-hungry architectural material that must be treated not like a brick, but like a leaf, encouraging a paradigm shift in our methods of construction.




Earth’s first breath: cyanobacteria




Photosynthetic Biomineralization: A solar-powered process that solely relies on the abundant resources of sunlight, CO2, and water, and from it fabricates a product. The precipitation of calcium carbonate is powered by the organism’s photosynthetic optimization. The bacteria will binds any inert substrate, absorbing and sequestering carbon.



Image by NASA’s Earth Observatory Team of global Net Primary Productivity by photosynthetic activity 

/ substrate materials
Olivine


Optic Calcite


Substrate materials were chosen to enhance the material’s photosynthetic ability. Olivine is an abundant mineral with further carbon capture ability, and calcite is biocompatible with cyanobacteria and has a high refractive index to scatter light throughout the material. 



Microscopic analysis of material
The building blocks of photosynthesis as the building blocks of architecture



Air
Light
Water















The Carbon Chamber was built in collaboration with Jordan Murray and Jessica Evans to test and collect data on the carbon capture ability of new biomaterials












RESEARCH + ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Literature

Abram, D. (2017). The spell of the sensuous: Perception and language in a more-than-human world. Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Ashraf, K. (2012) Reading the wind and weather: The meteorological architecture of studio mumbai,| Kazi Khaleed Ashraf. Available at: https://kaziashraf.com/writings/featured-articles/reading-the-wind-and-weather-the-meteorological-ar/ (Accessed: 15 June 2023).

Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (2009). A thousand plateaus: Rhizomes. Venus Pencils. 

Jovine, R. (2022). Light to life: The hidden powers of photosynthesis and how it can save the planet. Short Books.

Wang, Y. and Yang, Y. (2021) A study on Meteorological Architecture, NASA/ADS. (Accessed: 15 June 2023). 

Scientists and Projects

Béarat, H., McKelvy, M. J., Chizmeshya, A. V., Gormley, D., Nunez, R., Carpenter, R. W., Squires, K., & Wolf, G. H. (2006). Carbon sequestration via aqueous olivine mineral carbonation:  role of Passivating Layer Formation. Environmental Science & Technology, 40(15), 4802–4808. https://doi.org/10.1021/es0523340

Christer Jansson, Trent Northen, Calcifying cyanobacteria—the potential of biomineralization for carbon capture and storage, Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Volume 21, Issue 3, 2010.
 Crider, B. J. (2020, June 14). Project vesta is using the mineral olivine to remove CO2 from the Air. CleanTechnica. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://cleantechnica.com/2020/06/14/project-vesta-is-using-the-mineral-olivine-to-remove-co2-from-the-air/ 

Heveran, C. M., Williams, S. L., Qiu, J., Artier, J., Hubler, M. H., Cook, S. M., Cameron, J. C., & Srubar, W. V. (2020). Biomineralization and successive regeneration of engineered living building materials. Matter, 2(2), 481–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2019.11.016

Lamérand, C., Shirokova, L. S., Bénézeth, P., Rols, J.-L., & Pokrovsky, O. S. (2022). Carbon sequestration potential of MG carbonate and silicate biomineralization in the presence of Cyanobacterium Synechococcus. Chemical Geology, 599, 120854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120854

Luan, G., Zhang, S., & Lu, X. (2020). Engineering cyanobacteria chassis cells toward more efficient photosynthesis. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 62, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2019.07.004

Melchiorri, J. (n.d.). Silk Leaf. Julian Melchiorri. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.julianmelchiorri.com/Silk-Leaf

MOULD. 2023. Architecture as Climate: A Conversation with MOULD. Central Saint Martins, March 2023.

Rahbar, N. (2020) ‘Extending the life of self-healing structural materials’, Matter, 2(2), pp. 289–291. doi:10.1016/j.matt.2020.01.012.

Tamuli, P. (2021, January 26). Bio-ID student Prantar Tamuli awarded the BPS Irène Manton Prize. The Bartlett School of Architecture. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/news/2021/jan/bio-id-student-prantar-tamuli-awarded-bps-irene-manton-prize




CV