Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

Summer 7-20-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

August 2026

Department

Comparative Studies Program

College Granting Degree

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Department Granting Degree

Comparative Studies Program

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Reza Azarderakhsh

Abstract

Living biomaterials grow during fabrication, making strategy selection a design problem distinct from conventional form-making. This dissertation investigates how Pleurotus ostreatus mycelium and Triticum aestivum plant roots reshape the computational design process through their biological behavior. The central argument is that when a designer works with living matter, the material participates in forming, changing the decisions made, the strategies chosen, and the framework required. This relationship between biological transformation and computational design is named the Material Affecting Design (MAD) framework. The research was conducted through a research-through-design methodology grounded in American pragmatist philosophy, particularly the work of Dewey, James, and Peirce. The experimental sequence began with mold-based fabrication trials across multiple geometries, establishing that mycelium composites fracture consistently during mold release at branching junctions and slender transitions, not because of biological failure, but because of absent internal structural support. A parallel trial with wheatgrass roots demonstrated that roots can be stabilized with bio-resin before demolding, allowing complex forms to survive the release sequence

This evidence motivated a shift to scaffold-guided fabrication, in which a parametric Voronoi lattice fabricated from 70% PLA and 30% wood powder at 22% infill density replaces the removable mold. The scaffold remains inside the grown object, providing continuous support during cultivation and becoming part of the final composite. Experiments were conducted across three scales, a branching table base, a loop-shaped lighting fixture, and a rocking-chair-scale modular assembly, with both biological systems. Results confirmed that scaffold-guided fabrication eliminates release failure while shifting design risk toward cultivation environment management.

The MAD framework formalizes these findings as a strategy-selection tool, positioning four fabrication approaches, mold-based containment, retained formwork, porous scaffold-guided growth, and open long-term growth, according to geometric complexity and desired control over the final outcome. Strategy selection follows three questions: what the form requires, what the organism needs, and how much biological influence the designer accepts before stabilization. This dissertation contributes empirical, methodological, and conceptual knowledge to bio-digital fabrication, demonstrating that biological variability is a design condition to be engaged rather than eliminated.

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