MARSBOOT / by Liz Ciokajlo + Maurizio Montalti
Growing a MarsBoot is a project rethinking and questioning, through a designers lens, our 21st century material culture, its values and the ongoing challenges and perspectives of living on Mars.
The project suggests the weight of the cargo sent to Mars can be minimised by including lightest conceivable building tools system: fungal spores grown on organic waste materials and the use of parametric design structures inspired by human skin to maximise performance and reduce materials consumption.
Funghi can grow on all kinds of organic matter by spreading thread-like cells. These consolidate into a mycelium network, a material of surprising strength. The advantage of this approach is that the mycelium is light, strong and renewable, and can grow on just about everything humans produce – carbon dioxide, hair, flakes of skin, even drops of sweat.
The MarsBoot is a speculative prototype exploring how even human waste might be fashioned into tailored article. Commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Senior Curator, Paola Antonelli, as part of the exhibition: “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” (2017-2018), CASKIA:
Growing a MarsBoot was designed by Liz Ciokajlo in close collaboration with Officina Corpuscoli | Maurizio Montalti, with contributions from Rhian Solomon and Manolis Papastavrou.
COMPOSITION: Mycelium variants / TPU / 100% wool felt
- Mycelium: cotton-composite
- Mycelium: hemp-composite
- Mycelium: mycelium leather
- 100% wool felt
- 3D-printed TPU
Production process:
- Mycelium materials: cultivation of diverse fungal strains on different substrates’ typologies
- Steam/ moulded with hand-stitching in parts
- Computation/ scanning
- Software: Rhino/Grasshopper
- Laser sintered 3D printing