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Autumn Show 2024
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![Soil is a complex living material, and complex microbiomes inhabit it. Each layer in the *N-swaddle* plays a role to support soil and its microbiome, both in turn critical to plant growth.]()
![*N-swaddle* uses rhizobia as a keystone species for nitrogen fixation into the soil. This helps kickstart primary succession, the colonisation of a barren area with flora and fauna.]()
![This is an experiment comparing plant growth on four different fabric types. Fabric has a high potential to be a substrate for plant growth.]()
![A rectangular prism was fragmented to produce spatial niches. The branching increases the area for plant colonisation and promotes self-shading to reduce solar radiation.]()
![Understanding the effects of various climatic conditions on the structure and optimising the number of branches to combat high solar radiation.]()
![Swaddling as a fabrication technique allows for the strengthening of fabric structure where the load is inefficiently distributed and produces weak and bending behaviours, especially at intersections.]()
![Speculation of swaddling and different fabric pockets for microorganisms, plants, and biodiversity.]()
![Growing the rhizobia in a co-culture with a photobiont (a photosynthesising organism) helps increase the organic nitrogen and carbon content of soil. This helps kickstart primary succession.]()
![The effect of rhizobia-microalgae on a legume (vetch) growth on soil filled fabric.]()
![Can we design a living structure inhabited by plants and organisms for in-situ holistic bioremediation of complex waste?]()
![*N-swaddle* wraps around urban artifice. The Kings Cross Gasholder is the primary location, but there are many abandoned gasholder structures around the world.]()
![The *N-swaddle* comprises different fabric layers based on their properties for retaining moisture and plant growth.]()
![The structure has a soil-filled fabric core, strengthened by swaddling. It is covered with wicking layer. Finally, open weave fabric planters allow plant roots to penetrate the structure.]()
![The right side represents plant growth, while the left side depicts how fabric is degraded over time to reveal the soil, now bound with knotted roots.]()
![Once inoculated, the *N-swaddle* begins transitioning from a seemingly inert form into a collage of different textures and growth, from the microalgae shown below on the bubble planters, to the internal colouration of textiles with rhizobia.]()
![Micro-scale decay eventually translates to a larger scale decay, shifting into a material and form that can only be speculated.]()
N-swaddle
Project details
Programme
Year
1
The N-swaddle is a hanging multidimensional garden, defying horizontal and vertical binaries. It incubates plants using microorganisms within a living fabric structure, exploring primary succession in the urban artificiality of the Gasholder Park in King’s Cross, London.
Microorganisms, such as rhizobacteria, and phototrophic organisms, such as cyanobacteria and microalgae, are keystone groups that improve soil nutrient availability and help bind the soil together, nurturing larger flora.
Offering an alternative plant ecosystem, in contrast to the poor bio-receptivity of surrounding structures, the scheme increases biodiversity and green space by inviting new species into its enveloping fabric form. Its ephemeral nature arises from the in-situ degradation of waste fabric that initially holds its containing soil in place.
N-swaddle challenges us to treat our microbiota and soil with the same fervour as our own offspring.
Students
- Nevres Arin (Arin) Aydogdu Year 1
- Kayan Jayamin Patel Year 1
- Parisa Azizi Shamami Year 1
01
Growth
The Multidimensional Garden
Soil is a complex living material, and complex microbiomes inhabit it. Each layer in the N-swaddle plays a role to support soil and its microbiome, both in turn critical to plant growth.
Rhizobia: Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria
N-swaddle uses rhizobia as a keystone species for nitrogen fixation into the soil. This helps kickstart primary succession, the colonisation of a barren area with flora and fauna.
Rhizobia Kaleidoscope
Rhizobia Kaleidoscope
The rhizobia can be seen in a pink hue in these microscope images, due to the leghaemoglobin protein that stores oxygen. It lives in plant root nodules, where oxygen is scarce, so leghaemoglobin is a sign of nitrogen fixation.
Plant Growth on Fabric Types
This is an experiment comparing plant growth on four different fabric types. Fabric has a high potential to be a substrate for plant growth.
Growth as a Concept
A rectangular prism was fragmented to produce spatial niches. The branching increases the area for plant colonisation and promotes self-shading to reduce solar radiation.
Solar Analysis
Understanding the effects of various climatic conditions on the structure and optimising the number of branches to combat high solar radiation.
02
Care
Swaddling as Technique
Swaddling as a fabrication technique allows for the strengthening of fabric structure where the load is inefficiently distributed and produces weak and bending behaviours, especially at intersections.
Swaddling Collage
Speculation of swaddling and different fabric pockets for microorganisms, plants, and biodiversity.
Co-Culture of Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria and Microalgae
Growing the rhizobia in a co-culture with a photobiont (a photosynthesising organism) helps increase the organic nitrogen and carbon content of soil. This helps kickstart primary succession.
Vetch Growth Experiment
The effect of rhizobia-microalgae on a legume (vetch) growth on soil filled fabric.
03
Integration
The N-swaddle as a Host
Can we design a living structure inhabited by plants and organisms for in-situ holistic bioremediation of complex waste?
Gasholder Structure
N-swaddle wraps around urban artifice. The Kings Cross Gasholder is the primary location, but there are many abandoned gasholder structures around the world.
Model Cross-Section
The N-swaddle comprises different fabric layers based on their properties for retaining moisture and plant growth.
Fabricated Prototype
The structure has a soil-filled fabric core, strengthened by swaddling. It is covered with wicking layer. Finally, open weave fabric planters allow plant roots to penetrate the structure.
Wicking System
Wicking System
The wicking system layer, comprises hydrogel-coated yarn to distribute water throughout the structure to maintain the plants, and also to inoculate the structure with the rhizobial bacteria and microalgae.
04
The Living Machine
The N-swaddle Over Time: Simultaneous Growth and Decay
The right side represents plant growth, while the left side depicts how fabric is degraded over time to reveal the soil, now bound with knotted roots.
Transition
Once inoculated, the N-swaddle begins transitioning from a seemingly inert form into a collage of different textures and growth, from the microalgae shown below on the bubble planters, to the internal colouration of textiles with rhizobia.
Stages of Degradation
Micro-scale decay eventually translates to a larger scale decay, shifting into a material and form that can only be speculated.
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Autumn Show 2024
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