The seaweed archives: A material study of seaweed as a building material and its implementation on two buildings on North Koster, Sweden
Publicerad
Författare
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Examensarbete för masterexamen
Modellbyggare
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Sammanfattning
At the beginning of April 2022, Sweden had already
depleted its annual budget of the earth’s resources
(Global Footprint Network, 2022). The current climate
and biodiversity crisis brings new challenges to
architects as thirty percent of the global energy-related
carbon emissions are produced by the building industry
(Basyigit et al., 2021). Facing these challenges, the
need for environmentally friendly and sustainable building
materials has increased significantly.
This master thesis aims to offer an alternative to current
conventional materials and move from carbon emission
to carbon storage by focusing on an abundant,
underutilized and, if harvested right, highly sustainable
material: Seaweed. Seaweed, or macroalgae, is easy
to grow and abundant along the Swedish coastline. It
requires no land, fertilizers or fresh water and grows
about thirty times faster than land-based plants. Marine
plants (mainly eelgrass) have been used as a building
material in the past as insulation and roofing material,
and has been proven to be efficient and durable.
Its natural resistance to mould and fire has allowed the
material to be preserved for centuries (Widera, 2014).
Although there are a few new examples of seaweed
being used in architecture and design, it is still a quite
underutilized material within this field.
This master thesis highlights the versatility of seaweed
and explores its potential use as a building material
through material experiments and reference studies.
As a part of this thesis, real architectural elements are
proposed and tested in relation to different aspects like
tactility, visual appearance and water resistance. The
material experiments include bioplastics, bricks, panels
and seaweed shingles serving as both interior and
exterior materials. Material findings are applied to the
design proposal of two buildings on the Swedish island
North Koster. This site is surrounded by Kosterhavet
National park, the first national marine park in Sweden
and home to the most diverse marine life in the country.
One of the proposed buildings contains a café and
exhibition space displaying the versatility of seaweed
in architecture and design. The second built structure is
a floating sauna platform that can be reached by foot
or kayak.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Seaweed, Algae, Material studies, Koster islands, Sustainable materials