Living Weaves: Steps Towards the Persistent Modelling of Bio-Hybrid Architectural Systems

In this paper, we present a novel, speculative design approach for a bio-hybrid architectural system. The Living Weaves system seeks to harness the material accumulation capacity of climbing plants and steer this growth into an interlaced configuration with a diagrid scaffold to produce a structural Kagome weave. The concept is described through a speculative design proposal, and its feasibility is investigated in two ways; the development of an autonomous steering system to achieve interlacing of living plants with a diagrid scaffold, and an analytical design method for determining structurally advantageous plant growth routes in target geometries. Together, these two investigations represent steps towards a persistent modelling approach, which, we argue, is essential for exploiting the novel characteristics of living bio-hybrid architectures.