www.rachelarmstrong.me | TED2010 Longbeach talk: How a protocell can build a solid structure
www.rachelarmstrong.me | TEDLongbeach
Dr. RACHEL
ARMSTRONG
MA [Cantab] BMBCh [Oxon]
I believe in a future where the way to heal an environment is to make a building.
This means that the processes and materials used in the construction of architecture, will share some of the properties of natural systems.
In the practice of the built environment, the current approach to climate change is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by, using recycled materials, making our technologies more efficient and finding alternative energy sources such as, fitting solar panels to our rooftops.
Today, architects strive to create the ultimate zero carbon buildings, in other words, architecture that produces no net carbon dioxide emissions when it is being used. This goal is not ambitious enough.
A zero carbon building such as the Green Lighthouse in Copenhagen does not reverse the causes of climate change by for example, by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and nor does it challenge the fundamental way in which buildings are constructed.
This is crucial for the future health of our cities and for the planet.
The world population is just under 7 billion. By 2050 this will have risen to 9 billion people and 70 % of these will be living in cities. This means that we will need to build homes for them. Todays architecture contributes to 40 % of our carbon footprint, which is more than transport. So unless we reverse the relationship between the production of architecture and its impact on the environment, and strive beyond carbon neutrality, our building industry will have a significant negative impact on the environment and lives of our successors. We need to change our thinking right now so that the next generation of architects, who are students today, is able to deal with these issues in new ways.
How might this be achieved?
Last July I gave a presentation about how it may be possible to grow architecture using a technology called the protocell, which is a chemically programmable agent based on the chemistry of oil and water. The example I used speculated how it may be possible to grown an artificial reef under the foundations of Venice as an alternative way of reclaiming the history city.
Now, we have taken these concepts and engineered a protocell system to create solid material.
This is a video, shown for the first time, of a protocell producing a sturdy tube of crystalline material. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR8UKiWmfGs]
The protocell is the shell like structure in the middle and it is taking instructions from the environment, combining these with its chemical program and creating a tube of material from this information. You can see that the tube grows from the middle to the top left of the screen. All of this is done without any DNA.
We have also shown that it is possible to create carbonate, a solid form of carbon dioxide, using this system. Here is a protocell that has created a limestone like substance on its surface by fixing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and making a shell-like substance.
Because the protocell is able to produce a solid material we can use it in an architectural context. For example, we could use the system to create limestone coats or skins on the surfaces of buildings so that they become a source of carbon dioxide removal and fixation as well as provide a new kind of building material that can grow on the outside of our homes.
I believe that the real response to climate change is to create active surfaces for our building exteriors that can help us combat the changes associated with global warming. These new materials may help us reverse the current relationship that exists between architecture and the environment, so that our buildings have a positive impact on the environment and we create carbon NEGATIVE architecture. All of the research in the laboratory to date tells us that this is possible.
Dr. Rachel Armstrong
[February 2010]
