| Abstract | As the span of our urban environments continue to grow, and industries supporting life in our cities proliferate, a key dilemma one can observed is the contamination of soil and a detrimental loss of biodiversity. This growing threat to these fundamental components of our ecology has captured the attention of designers where multidisciplinary approaches are imperative in combating the severe damage inflicted by anthropogenic activity. A prominent discourse of soil treatment evident in landscape design is phytoremediation. Within this field of naturally based remediation efforts, mycoremediation, which utilizes vegetative fungi root networks known as mycelia to immobilize toxic chemicals embedded in soil systems. While this method of landscape remediation is extremely effective against a multitude of chemicals, it is evident that these efforts have yet to be a seamlessly integrated, scaled and programmed as part of the urban fabric. The proposal will then focus upon the development of a framework for biodiverse mycelium-based soil remediation deployment strategy that integrates three integral elements: biodiversity, material design, and data visualization. This study will include, (i) a comprehensive literature review to observe the advancements in each of these fields, (ii) a design proposal for the biodiverse mycoremediation deployment system within a case study environment, (iii) material scale experiments to test the remediation efficacy of mycelium along with two species of native flora to the case study site against lead, and (iv) a material thermal and moisture simulation using Energyplus software to test the material component’s capabilities of supporting mycelium growth within the structure. Based on material experiments, the results have exemplified the proficiency of mycelium concurrently with a species of flora without contamination of the mycelium root network. Additionally, the results reflect the mycelium and case study flora to capabilities of performing phytostabilization, where the soil sample contaminated with a magnitude of approximately 500 ppm of lead was reduced to under 200 ppm. Lastly, the material simulations displayed the capacities of utilizing earthen materials such as clay, and fabrics composed of natural fibers like coconut noir within the envelope layer of the scaffold system to sustain the interior thermal and moisture conditions required for the growth of mycelium. The interdisciplinary design research is significant to investigate prospective approaches utilizing ecologically conscious mycoremediation to protect vulnerable urban communities against detrimental toxin. |
