SPACE March 2023 (No. 664)
When Worms Meet Architecture: Decomposition Farm_stairway
In architecture, could animals be a clue to sustainability? What if they could even solve problems arising after demolition that have been neglected during the life cycle of a building? The technology used for construction disposal is generally focused on concrete recycling, and thermal insulation materials that are difficult to regenerate have been incinerated or landfilled. Yong Ju Lee (principal, Yong Ju Lee Architecture) suggests a new way of processing thermal insulation materials using mealworms. The following interview about his new project, Decomposition Farm_Stairway, provides a sense of the architect’s vision for the potential of mealworms.
Decomposition Farm_Stairway (2022)
interview
Yong Ju Lee principal, Yong Ju Lee Architecture × Han Garam
Han Garam (Han): Decomposition Farm_Stairway (2022) is a fabricated pavilion representing an architectural experiment for the environment. In a previous interview, during the study phase, you announced that your interests had expanded, saying, ‘Living things are the latest, not digital architecture.’
Yong Ju Lee (Lee): Breaking down preconceptions about the latest and broadening knowledge is a product of paying close attention to the activities of the college of natural sciences and engineering, where I am an assistant professor. For them, the latest is not limited to machines, IT, or AI. Materials, and biotechnology are used in research for a better future. Advanced future here means not only moving forward, but also holding on to the status quo so that problems do not get worse, or even return to the past. After realising what had been overlooked, living things were as leading a subject as digital in architecture.
Han: It is easy to think of plants when thinking of living things combined with architecture, but mealworms (tenebrio molitor larvae) were chosen. Where did you see the potential for these?
Lee: It started from a simple phrase, ‘an animal that digests styrofoam’. I wondered if it could be solved through architecture, so I looked through articles and research papers— from people’s comments that mealworms gnawed styrofoam delivery boxes to studies in different countries about bacteria in the intestines of mealworms decomposing styrofoam. According to data, mealworms excrete after eating styrofoam, and the excrement is safe enough to be used instead of soil for growing crops. This phenomenon raised possibilities regarding demolition and disposal, a topic to which the architectural field had not given much thought.
Han: A controlled experiment was conducted on mealworms to investigate the digestibility of styrofoam, foam core, and vinyl.
Lee: First, I wanted to directly verify whether mealworms digest styrofoam. When the excrement from mealworms fed with normal food and styrofoam were compared, the colour was obviously different. This is clear evidence that mealworms decompose styrofoam. There was also an experiment with superworms (zophobas morio larvae) with a length of more than 50mm, but this produced a bad smell because the excrement was bigger. In addition, considering management and cost aspects, mealworms of 10 ‒ 20mm in size were judged to be more appropriate than superworms for future work.
The next step was to project the concerns as a designer. I was wondering which material would have a more noticeable visual effect, but among styrofoam, foam core, and vinyl, styrofoam showed the greatest difference before and after consumption. Foam core is chemically made with expanded polystyrene, which is the same material as styrofoam, but its high density allows mealworms to burrow into it. In the case of vinyl (polyethylene), mealworms ingested it, but at a slower rate. According to the research papers, there were toxic substances in the excrement when the mealworms ate vinyl. Overall, styrofoam was appropriate as a design material.
스티로폼, 우드록, 비닐을 대상으로 한 밀웜의 분해 능력 실험
Han: Worm Skyscraper (2020) was the first project using mealworms. Ten mealworms were supplied with 50×50×1mm styrofoam plates for 3 ‒ 4 days, and the remaining styrofoam plates were piled up to form a small object. What was gained from this project?
Lee: This project was created at the request of the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture to participate in the online exhibition ‘Ways of Seeing’. The format of showing the work online was an opportunity to deliberately create something small and enlarge it. Therefore, a video was made, which showed the process of mealworms eating a thin styrofoam plate and stacking 56 plates. However, the exhibition was then held face-to-face. (laugh) Since the artificial lighting at the exhibition hall was strong, mealworms kept digging into the styrofoam. Mealworms didn’t seem to like the light very much. For the next project, I wanted to create an environment where the worms could live comfortably until they become imagoes.
Worm Skyscraper (2020)
Worm Skyscraper (2020)
Han: Decomposition Farm_Stairway is the project that was powered by that idea. It is interesting that an ecosystem of its own was created in an environment made of artifacts as moss was also added, where before there were only styrofoam and mealworms.
Lee: This time, instead of leaving themealworms alone in the styrofoam, holesthe sizes of mealworms were added, which provided a habitat. Soil, moss, and other food were provided through the holes. Normal food was needed to make the mealworms eat styrofoam well. Conceptually, the excrement of mealworms could also provide nutrients to moss. I thought this would be an environment close to nature. The expression ‘natural ecosystem’ can be anthropocentric and rather idealistic. Nonetheless, I tried to change the artifacts into environments familiar to animals and plants as much as possible. It was for this reason that the pavilion was installed on a hill in Gyeonggi-do.
Han: The scale of the project is much bigger than before. It has a circular stairway on a scale that humans can experience.
Lee: Worm Skyscraper, which simply explores the possibility of mealworms, in fact, has little to do with architecture except for the use of styrofoam. I wanted Decomposition Farm_Stairway to go beyond material and suggest that waste – which was part of the building – could become architecture again. Therefore, the shape and size that anyone could perceive as a space were important. Space can be embodied as a chair, bench, or bed, but in the case of stairs, people can notice the existence of mealworms in the surroundings while moving through the space instead of standing still.
Han: The overall shape shows the characteristics that have been cultivated in the field of digital architecture. This time, the ruled surface was carved with a 6-axis robotic arm.
Lee: It was necessary to match construction and design to overcome constraints caused by budget and manpower shortages. Practically, the only tool that could be used to process styrofoam was hot wire cutter. However, it was difficult to carve such a large material by hand. It was not long after that the 6-axis robotic arm was brought into our university. This machine can employ various tools that corresponds to a human hand, and it moves in various angles because it has six driving motors. Combining with hot wire cutter is also possible, which made choosing tools easier.
The next problem was how to realise the shaped circular staircase. Hot wire cutter has a limitation that it must be cut only in a straight line when creating a curved surface. The shape corresponding to this is the ruled surface. Ruled surfaces may be unfamiliar since they are expressions used in geometry, but they were often applied to architecture such asFrank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao or Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral before digital tools developed as they are now. In this project, 12 pieces of ruled surfaces were supported and joined with steel frames.
Decomposition Farm_Stairway (2022)
Decomposition Farm_Stairway (2022)
Han: The Decomposition Farm_Stairway was introduced as a ‘sustainable method beyond carbon-neutralised architecture’, but there were questions at the construction stage around the need for supplementation for the environment. For example, whether to use construction disposal or to implement a form that minimises surplus materials.
Lee: Yes, there was an element of the structure that lost balance due to the design I desired as an architect. As mentioned, the maximum height was decided upon considering it would be more meaningful if the pavilion is read as an architectural structure. When the styrofoam could not stand on its own, there was no choice but to add a steel frame. Due to the unexpected cost of the steel frame, the stairs were installed to go up only about 1m. Surplus materials were also not considered since the focus was on the processing of ruled surface at the time. As an architect who has been working with digital architecture, I tied myself to the need to incorporate technology. The styrofoam of the Decomposition Farm_Stairway was cut into a hemispherical shape with a hot wire cutter. The raw materialis more than five times thicker than the styrofoam used for thermal insulation.
In future projects, the supplementation should be as persuasive as possible. First, the material should at least resemble the shape of waste. If you go to a demolition site, isn’t waste mixed with all sorts of debris? In fact, since it is not easy to obtain waste, and it will be necessary to match the thickness and size of the material. Manufacturing should also be minimised. When working through Decomposition Farm_Stairway, I found out that a masonry structure was appropriate for the characteristics of styrofoam. It is important to connect the materials while preserving the original appearance, like bricks and mortar. The design of the connection part will be studied. The structure willbe entirely composed of styrofoam, with additional elements such as steel frames removed. It may look similar to a box.
Han: Currently, the Decomposition Farm_Stairway is dismantled. In terms of how the structure looked at the end, what was the difference between what you had imagined and the reality?
Lee: The maintenance period allowed was about two weeks. In the meantime, I did not expect mealworms to eat all the styrofoam. Instead, I pictured that after eating enough styrofoam, the mealworms become imagoes and fly away, the pavilion is somewhat destroyed, and the moss spreads out—not artificial or natural, but somewhere in between. Although it was an ideal compromised with reality, it was not achieved. (laugh) Nevertheless, if the pavilion can be permanently installed, mealworms could continue to live in this environment. Traces of ingested styrofoam could be seen with the naked eye, and the mealworms survived in the hole even in the rain. Some have undergone complete metamorphosis into tenebrio molitors. The rate of metamorphosis is fast, about two weeks, and most of them move to other places when they become imagoes. In this sense, maintenance by humans was also required. We added new mealworms and food other than styrofoam every other day. In total, there were about 3000 mealworms.
Han: This project seeks a way to dispose of thermal insulation materials, which were non- biodegradable. What is the final goal of the architectural experiments using mealworms?
Lee: I want to reveal the problems thatthe architectural field has in the era of carbon neutrality and help to solve them. Technically, I’m the lever, and the catalyst is the scientist who will develop the mealworm’s digestive enzymes. After all, the purpose of this architectural experiment is to form a consensus with many people. It may stimulate the public’s curiosity since it is an unfamiliar animal—not a plant. I hope to be able to collaborate with researchers in other fields to increase the plausibility of the concept.
Decomposition Farm_Stairway (2022)
Yong Ju Lee
Yong Ju Lee has been working for stimulating design for everyday life in multiple scales and media. His works are presented worldwide such as National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Venice Biennale. He also received world-renowned awards including Korean Public Architecture Award, iF Design Award and Design Vanguard. He earned academic degrees from Yonsei University and Columbia University. He is a registered architect and currently assistant professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, where he leads Robotic Fabrication Studio.
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