European Union logo
New European Bauhaus Prizes

Enhancing Circularity, Sustainability, and Innovation

AURORA - Living Construction System
{Empty}
AURORA develops carbon-negative building components from local waste streams through engineered living materials and 3D printing. Grown rather than manufactured, these bio-based composites turn agricultural and forestry residues into lightweight, thermally efficient modules. Toward new regenerative construction practices that are circular, beautiful, and alive.
Sweden
Local
Umeå
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It involves a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Prototype level
No
No
No
Individual

AURORA addresses the construction sector’s environmental footprint, responsible for roughly 37% of global CO₂ emissions, by developing mycelium-based composites (MBCs) using residues from local manufacturing: as carbon-negative building components fabricated through 3D printing via liquid deposition modeling (LDM). The concept targets architects, builders, municipalities, and communities looking for affordable, low-impact construction alternatives. Through the valorization of locally available residues, biochar from agricultural waste pyrolysis, sawdust from workshop off-cuts, and recycled cardboard, AURORA closes material loops that currently end in landfill. Objectives include: (1) designing MBCs formulations based on structural, thermal, and biological performance; (2) testing non-sterile, scalable fabrication; and (3) prototyping functionally graded shell elements prefabricated through 3D printing. Specific objectives include: (1) designing MBC formulations optimized for structural, thermal, and biological performance; (2) validating non-sterile, scalable fabrication protocols; and (3) prototyping functionally graded shell elements through 3D printing. Results so far confirm feasibility: optimized formulations achieve dimensional stability well beyond values reported in the literature, and a non-sterile cultivation protocol has been successfully validated, which findings have been published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at two international conferences. What makes AURORA transformative is its integration of living biological processes with computational design: reaction-diffusion algorithms generate biomimetic internal geometries that optimize porosity for both structural performance and fungal colonization. AURORA opens the possibility of building components that embed circular economy logic at the material level, where every residue becomes a resource, and every community with organic waste streams can become a producer.
AURORA's concepts started in 2019, when my attraction to fractal geometries and nature-inspired algorithms began during my master’s in architecture at the University of Naples Federico II. It was during an Erasmus exchange at Umeå School of Architecture that same year that the direction consolidated: an assignment to identify patterns in nature shifted attention toward minimal surfaces, Voronoi tessellations, and the algorithmic logics that organize organic systems. The question became: could these geometries, optimized over millennia by biology, inform architectural construction? In 2022, a second stay in Umeå through an Erasmus traineeship opened the material dimension. A collaboration with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden enabled first experiments with 3D printing of biomaterials and mycelium-based composites (MBCs). Simultaneously, delivering lectures on bio-based material research at Umeå School of Architecture's master program deepened both knowledge and conviction that living materials could become construction systems. When my doctoral position began in 2024 at Umeå School of Architecture, the three threads converged: biomimetic geometries, engineered living materials, and additive manufacturing. Julio C. Diarte Almada joined as primary collaborator and PhD supervisor, bringing architectural research expertise. Researchers from the Department of Molecular Biology and Applied Physics contributed with their knowledge. Working across disciplines is fundamental to this research and deeply connected to the architect's role of integrating different professional knowledge. The NEB prize would advance AURORA toward a public full-scale prototype, translating years of cross-disciplinary development into a tangible demonstration.
Mycelium-based composite
Carbon-negative construction
3D Printing
Regenerative design
Circular Economy
AURORA directly addresses environmental sustainability through three integrated strategies: carbon negativity, circularity, and modular prefabrication. Carbon negativity: Biochar sequesters carbon in a stable form for centuries. When embedded in mycelium-based composites (MBCs), each building component becomes a long-term carbon sink. Unlike conventional insulation materials derived from petrochemicals, biochar-mycelium composites actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere during their production cycle. Preliminary experimental results suggests that a biochar content of 20–25 wt% also achieves dimensional stability significantly beyond values reported in the literature for MBCs. Circularity: The material system is designed as a closed loop. Substrates are sourced from local waste streams. At end of life, MBCs are fully biodegradable and can return nutrients to soil or act as substrates for new components, closing the biological cycle entirely. Modular prefabrication: 3D-printed MBC modules can be fabricated off-site, stored in a dried state, and assembled on-site through the bio-welding capacity of mycelium, where living hyphae establish biological bonds between components. This enables modular construction with localized repair and component replacement, reducing construction waste and extending building lifespan through design for disassembly. The project's character lies in its systemic approach: rather than addressing a single environmental issue, AURORA simultaneously tackles carbon emissions, resource depletion, and waste management through one integrated material system. The non-sterile fabrication protocol further reduces energy consumption and infrastructure requirements, making the technology accessible beyond specialized laboratory settings.
AURORA reconceives building components as living, expressive surfaces that evolve over time, challenging the static, industrial aesthetics that dominate contemporary construction. The biomimetic patterning system, driven by reaction-diffusion algorithms, generates organic geometries inspired by coral morphologies. These patterns are not decorative: they optimize porosity for fungal colonization, defining how mycelium develops in specific sections and producing a functionally graded material. The resulting surfaces carry an intrinsic aesthetic quality, each component is unique, shaped by the interplay between computational design and biological growth. The material itself contributes to the perception of nature's beauty: Ganoderma lucidum produces a warm color palette ranging from deep brown to amber depending on light exposure during growth, thanks to its melanin. The slightly rough surface texture and natural thermal warmth to the touch stimulate a sensory experience that synthetic construction materials cannot replicate. What distinguishes AURORA aesthetically is that its beauty is not applied but emergent, it arises directly from the biological and structural logic of the material. The computational patterns that guide fungal colonization are simultaneously the source of the component's mechanical performance and its visual identity. Form, function, and fabrication becomes interdependent, producing an architecture where craft is encoded in the algorithm and expressed through biology. This integration of design intelligence with living processes represents a new form of material craftsmanship, one where the designer sets the conditions and the organism completes the work.
AURORA promotes inclusion through material accessibility and the democratization of technologically advanced sustainable construction knowledge. The material characterization conducted in this project will defines performance parameters that may become a transferable reference framework. Any community with access to organic residues can evaluate locally available resources against these criteria and formulate MBCs suited to their context. This shifts the logic of sustainable construction from importing proprietary products to qualifying local waste streams as building materials, AURORA removes the dependency on industrial supply chains that typically exclude rural, peripheral, or economically disadvantaged communities from accessing traditional construction materials. The non-sterile cultivation protocol eliminates the need for expensive clean-room infrastructure, removing the single largest barrier to scaling mycelium-based construction beyond the laboratory. Combined with 3D printing using relatively affordable robotic extrusion equipment, the production chain is designed to be replicable by small enterprises, cooperatives, and educational institutions. All experimental findings are published in open-access venues, ensuring that the methodology is freely accessible to researchers and practitioners worldwide. The parametric design tools developed for toolpath design are built on open-source platforms. AURORA's exemplary character in terms of inclusion lies in producing not a proprietary product, but an adaptable methodology, a set of validated formulations and fabrication protocols that can be locally implemented wherever organic residues and basic digital fabrication infrastructure are available.
AURORA's development has been shaped by ongoing consultation and feedback from researchers across multiple disciplines, each contributing perspectives that directly influenced design decisions. The aim is to progressively extend this participatory process to municipalities and industry partners as the project moves toward implementation. Direct beneficiaries include the academic research community advancing bio-based construction, architecture students engaging with new material systems, and designers and communities looking for sustainable, locally grounded alternatives. Affected stakeholders include large industry sectors (e.g. biogas producers and forest industry) whose residues gain new economic value through the project as well as municipal planners exploring circular construction strategies. Participation has already taken several forms. Researchers from the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University have been consulted throughout the initial experimental phases, providing critical input on fungal cultivation strategies and contamination control that directly shaped the non-sterile protocol. Researchers from the Department of Applied Physics at Umeå University and from Lund University have been involved in the material testing for structural performance, fire resistance, and thermal insulation, to respond to real construction requirements. As AURORA advances toward prototyping, the participatory scope will expand. Biochar producers and sawmills in the Västerbotten region are being engaged to evaluate feedstock scalability and inform production workflows. Consultation with Umeå Municipality is planned to identify pilot contexts for public installation, allowing the project to incorporate end-user and policy perspectives into the design of its first built demonstrator. The project's scope, testing methodology, and material development priorities are being shaped by this growing network of consultations rather than defined in isolation.
AURORA engages stakeholders across local, national, and international levels, connecting research with industry needs and policy frameworks for circular construction. At the local level, Umeå School of Architecture and the departments of Molecular Biology and Applied Physics at Umeå University provide the research and testing infrastructure. Biochar producers and sawmills in the Västerbotten region have been consulted as potential feedstock suppliers, and Umeå Municipality represents a potential early context for pilot applications in public construction. Northern Sweden's economy, centered on forestry and emerging biochar production, provides the regional ecosystem for scaling MBCs production and connecting waste producers with construction demand. At the national level, the collaboration with Lund University for fire resistance and thermal performance testing extends the project's material characterization capacity beyond a single institution. Sweden's national climate targets and strong timber construction tradition create a policy environment receptive to carbon-negative building materials, positioning AURORA within a broader national transition toward low-carbon construction. At the international level, finding related to this project have already gain visibility through publications at international conferences and in the peer-reviewed journals. The project aligns directly with the European Green Deal's objectives for circular construction and contributes to the growing research agenda on bio-based building materials across European institutions. This multi-level structure means the project is simultaneously rooted in a specific territory and connected to the international research and policy communities where its findings may gain broader relevance and impact.
AURORA cannot exist within any single discipline. It requires the active integration of architecture, biology, material science, engineering, and building physics, not as parallel contributions but as interconnected knowledge that reshapes the project at every stage. The project brings together several knowledge fields. Architecture contributes spatial thinking, fabrication strategies, and the biomimetic patterning system that drives 3D printing through computational design. Mycology and molecular biology inform fungal species selection, cultivation protocols, and contamination management. Material science, engineering, and building physics guide mechanical testing, composite formulation, and characterization for fire resistance and thermal insulation performance. What makes this transdisciplinary rather than only interdisciplinary is that the knowledge fields do not operate in sequence but actively influence each other. The reaction-diffusion patterns that define AURORA's aesthetic and structural identity emerged from translating biological growth algorithms into architectural design parameters. The non-sterile fabrication protocol resulted from applying molecular biology knowledge to an architectural technology problem. The full material characterization is being developed jointly with physicists and engineers to ensure it meets construction industry standards, not only academic research benchmarks. This integration also opens questions that no single discipline would ask alone: how does the geometry of a printed component regulate the microclimate for a living organism? How does a building element participate in biological cycles beyond its construction function? AURORA demonstrates that regenerative construction requires knowledge integration, where biological processes become design strategies, architectural forms respond to the needs of living organisms, and material performance is understood not in isolation but as part of a broader living system.
AURORA's financial sustainability is grounded in the low cost of its feedstocks and the growing market demand for carbon-negative construction materials. Current funding: The project is supported through Umeå University's doctoral research program. Material costs are minimal, biochar, sawdust, and recycled cardboard are waste products available at negligible cost. The NEB prize, if awarded, would directly support the next implementation phase: prototype fabrication, life-cycle assessment, and the first public installation. Revenue potential: As EU regulations increasingly mandate embodied carbon reporting and circular material use in construction, MBCs are positioned to enter a rapidly expanding market. In the near term, revenue can be generated through consultancy and training for organizations looking to implement bio-based construction, and through the supply of MBC modules to architects and builders engaged in renovation and small-scale construction. In the longer term, licensing of optimized formulations and fabrication protocols to construction material manufacturers represents a scalable revenue path. Cost structure: Production costs center on 3D printing equipment and controlled-environment cultivation space. Biochar is typically a by-product of biogas production, available at low cost. The non-sterile protocol significantly reduces infrastructure costs compared to competing bio-fabrication approaches that require clean-room environments. Scalability pathway: The envisioned model connects local waste producers with construction companies through a distributed manufacturing network. Rather than centralized factory production, MBCs can be fabricated regionally using locally available residues, a model that supports local economies and reduces transport emissions. AURORA introduces the possibility that urban renovation materials can be produced from the city's own waste streams, turning municipal organic residues into the urban construction cycle.
AURORA's scalability begins with its immediate context; the project is designed around waste streams already available in northern Sweden. The public prototype will be fabricated using biochar sourced from regional biogas production and sawdust from the local forest industry, both residues that currently represent disposal costs rather than resources. Fabrication will use the robotic extrusion and digital fabrication equipment already owned by Umeå University, the institution supporting the doctoral research that shapes this project, meaning the prototype requires no additional capital investment in infrastructure. The non-sterile fabrication protocol is the key scalability enabler: by removing the need for energy-intensive sterilization and clean-room infrastructure, it makes mycelium-based composite fabrication feasible without specialized equipment. The elements most readily transferable to other contexts are the material formulation methodology and the cultivation protocol. Because the project defines clear performance parameters, practitioners elsewhere can evaluate their own local residues against these criteria and adapt formulations accordingly. The digital fabrication pipeline can be implemented with commercially available robotic extrusion equipment and open-source design platforms, though it requires basic training in digital fabrication and mycelium cultivation. This opens production to small workshops, cooperatives, and educational institutions equipped with basic digital fabrication tools. What needs local adaptation is primarily the substrate composition, because different regions produce different organic residues. The methodology is designed locally, but it will provide a characterization framework, open for adaptation to other contexts.
Q4 2026 (Oct–Dec) Material characterization: Complete the mechanical testing on optimized MBC formulations, in collaboration with the Department of Applied Physics at Umeå University. Fire resistance and thermal insulation characterization will be conducted with Lund University. This phase delivers the full material performance dataset needed to validate MBCs against construction industry requirements. Output: complete characterization dataset and peer-reviewed publication.
Q1 2027 (Jan-Jun) Prototype fabrication: Fabricate a full-scale compression-only shell prototype using 3D printing, using the university's existing robotic extrusion equipment. Feedstocks will be sourced from regional biochar producers and the local forest industry. Document the entire fabrication process from waste stream to finished component. If awarded, NEB prize funding would directly support these activities. Output: 1:1 prototype and fabrication documentation.
Q2 2027 (Apr-Aug) Assessment and partnerships: Conduct a life-cycle assessment of the MBC production chain to quantify the carbon footprint from waste stream to building component. Initiate formal partnerships with Västerbotten biochar producers, sawmills, and construction firms to evaluate supply chain viability. Output: LCA report and partnership framework.
Q3 2027 (Aug-Sep) Public installation and dissemination: Install the prototype in a public context making the project visible and accessible to citizens, professionals, and policymakers. Launch an open-access fabrication guide documenting formulations, protocols, and design tools. Present results at an international conference to consolidate AURORA's research dissemination. Output: public installation and digital fabrication guide.