Foaminant (Foam Scaffold for Mineralized Tissue)

This research explores the use of mixed bioplastic foam composites as scaffolds for species to proliferate inside and around the material by contamination, using the contact with the human body to create a unique pattern by the fungi growth following the traces of the human body path on the mold. These material properties have been explored through the chair design using the power of computational tools through nature-inspired methodology, in order to promote the interaction between user and material in the way that the material is contaminated by the human body. As a result, the structure of the material has been reinforced by the growth of fungi, expanding into a porous layer of the material. Simultaneously, the material appearance changes due to the colonization of different species, depending on the different environments that the human body was exposed to. Moreover, the fabrication methods have been explored by an additive manufacturing process using 6 axes robotic arm to produce a 1:1 furniture scale.