iker luna experiments with moss in bio ceramic system

iker luna experiments with moss in bio ceramic system
all images courtesy of iker luna

architect and designer iker luna has developed a studio experiment that explores the bio receptivity of ceramics by taking advantage of its porosity levels. the research examines how the material retains water and ways that the natural fibers can be used to benefit other properties.

the first phase of the investigation revolved around friction, as moss and other organisms have the capacity to grow on different kind surfaces – especially ones there are high levels of moisture and acceptable PH levels. ceramics are similar to roof tiles, which become suitable places for reproduction of such organisms and can provide benefits to the overall material performance. in terms of thermal and acoustic parameters the photosynthetic organism helps to improve air quality and alleviate urban heating.

‘my intention with this system is to control moisture levels with different porosity levels. in order to prove and compare the difference I’ve developed a multiple moisture sensor using an arduino mega controller that is capable of reading data from ten different regions inside of the clay.’ says iker luna.

materials suffer different physical changes depending on the environment and climate conditions. moss and other plants can also be responsible for increasing moisture levels, which can significantly damage the ceramic. in order to provide a good environment for the organism without decreasing material performance rock wool was added as natural fiber.

final prototype

botanically, mosses are non-vascular plants that fall under the bryophyta category, they reproduce using spores, not seeds and have no flowers. these gametophytes have no vascular system to transport water through the plant or waterproofing systems to prevent tissue water from evaporating, so they require a damp environment in which to grow, and a surrounding of liquid water to reproduce.

‘mosses grow in areas of dampness and shade, such as wooded areas and at the edges of streams; but they can grow anywhere in cool damp cloudy climates, and some species are adapted to sunny, seasonally dry areas like alpine rocks or stabilized sand dunes. since the life cycle of moss can take a couple of months to be stabilize I am using a method of mixing different components in order to accelerate the growth.’ says iker luna.

growing moss, early stage, fist test

porosity levels

levels

detail NIR image

NIR/NVDI image process

NIR and NDVI technology was used to analyze the ‘bio ceramic system’, making it possible detect evidence of moss living in the ceramics and help in understanding what samples are more suitable for growing the photosynthetic organism in controlled conditions. a modified digital camera replaced the original filter from the lens with a specific blue filter/1 that captures near-infrared and blue light in the same image, but in different color channels. the images are processed with a code/2 designed in studio r, a language used for processing images and quantum GIS.

multiple moisture sensor results

‘after all the testing I conclude that moss can grow in a ceramic environment provided with high levels of humidity, good sun and shade parameters… this will generate a heat buffer, where the water will retain three layers in the clay, making a natural exchange cycle from the moss to the medium and vice versa. at the same time levels of density can be tested for sound and temperature buffers, creating a passive system.’ says iker luna.

heat / sound buffer

project information:

the bio ceramic system is a project of IAAC, institute for advanced architecture of catalonia developed in the open thesis fabrication program in 2013 by:
student: iker luna
faculty: luis fraguada
advisors: silvia bures, marc viader, victor arribas

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.