To outline some of our next steps:

We MUST create the remainder of molds as fast as possible. 26 molds at 12 hours each is a month of printing! We also need to explore other methods of making molds.

How do we decide on a final form and size ratio? This will affect our production time and scale (how many of each module we can produce.

We need to verify that molds attached to one another will grow together with no weak spots.

We need to find the ideal grind/density of our mycelium medium.

We must decide on all critical features ASAP and the rest of the semester is just form finding and marketing essentially.

We need to find a way to duplicate our molds quickly without additional 3D printing. (This will be an archive set of molds for “distribution”)

We need multiple containers to grow in.

We should try inoculating our own substrates from found fungus’

We should try various additives in a scientific way. This means specifying mix ratios and stuff so others can replicate our results. An example would be measuring the volume of initial versus after blending volume.

We should try not to do anything too weird. (no redbull)

We need a standardized growth form which we can use for testing of relative strength and composition in lab.

We need a standard testing procedure.

We need a formalized growth, molding and demolding schedule.

We must determine material properties.

We need to start doing more simulations in other materials as we generate actionable data.

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-We need to contact the west coast Mycoworks to see if we can get advice on growth- (they also produce a leather substitute)

-Reached out to seth

-We need to reach out to more people in our field who are working in complex geometries.

- We need to determine the library set and work with all real world constraints we have

-We need a storyboard for the past, present and future of our project

-we need to complete the story-line of how exactly designers are working with this

Extra details:

Analog/example “brute force, best fit solver” animation for next step demonstration (gif) since this is not practical at this stage.

What we are really selling is the way we communicate designs (a1-b3) and the molding method/material (thin shell and mycelium)

The modules are just one of MANY possible forms. If we can create only a few interesting designs that are a success, over time we will find a small reduced module set which allows for a large range of designs. For now it’s more of a question of logging man hours for form exploration.