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Accepted manuscript

Growing My-stone: Bio-based Craftsmanship and Slow Making Through Living Mineralisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2026

T.A. Ningsih ,
S. Akkermans ,
S. Van Bijlen ,
J. F.M. Van Impe Open the ORCID record for J. F.M. Van Impe [Opens in a new window]  and
R. Armstrong
T.A. Ningsih
Affiliation:
RAAD, KU Leuven, Ghent, 9000, Flanders, Belgium BioTeC+, KU Leuven, Ghent, 9000, Flanders, Belgium
S. Akkermans
Affiliation:
BioTeC+, KU Leuven, Ghent, 9000, Flanders, Belgium
S. Van Bijlen
Affiliation:
RAAD, KU Leuven, Ghent, 9000, Flanders, Belgium
J. F.M. Van Impe*
Affiliation:
BioTeC+, KU Leuven, Ghent, 9000, Flanders, Belgium
R. Armstrong
Affiliation:
RAAD, KU Leuven, Ghent, 9000, Flanders, Belgium
*
*Author for correspondence. Email: jan.vanimpe@kuleuven.be
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Abstract

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This pictorial investigates how biological processes can guide material fabrication, positioning microbial growth as a sustainable method for architectural construction. This approach frames bio-based craftsmanship as material making grounded in biological activity rather than industrial production. The research builds on ureolytic microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) applied to construction and demolition (C&D) waste, using the fungal strain Trichoderma reesei. The project, titled My-stone, documents a fabrication process that begins with the inoculation of C&D aggregates with living fungi and continues through weekly feeding with nutrients, calcium chloride, and urea. As the mycelium develops, it gradually binds aggregates into a stable composite with its biomass, cementing this process by inducing calcium carbonate precipitation. Through this staged formation, mineralised material emerges over time, which we term slow making as a way of producing locally sourced, site-specific, and context-dependent material as a craft-based technique for architectural and design practices.

Keywords

bio-based craftsmanshipmyceliumbiomineralisationMICP

Information

Type
Pictorial: Biodesign Conference
Information
Biotechnology Design , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 10
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press