Biomaterial Tending: Sensing and Repairing Bio-integrated Architecture

Despite western architectural obsessions with permanence, ageing is an inevitable consequence of material degradation and environmental implications in the built environment. As the discipline increasingly shifts toward renovation and adaptive restoration, conventional repair or replacement methods utilize energy-intensive processes. When these are associated with non-sustainable materials such as concrete and steel, significant environmental and economic challenges arise. In response, the use of biomaterials as sustainable material alternatives, also engages new ways of thinking into how we might reframe building ageing as a more positive, ecological process. Seductive biological agencies of growth, self-healing and responsiveness however, must also acknowledge challenges of how to manage, care for and tend to these materials. Among these, mycelium materials represent a paradigm shift from material fabrication to material cultivation, but through their degradability, will also require a regenerative and environmentally responsive approach to their design and maintenance that we call ‘biomaterial tending’. A cyclical approach for material tending, requires constant monitoring and analysis, to support tending and repair strategies, necessitating the use of advanced digital tools. Scanning technologies have emerged as a critical solution, enabling high-precision, real-time monitoring of architectural ageing and facilitating more efficient, adaptable, and proactive restoration methods.This study explores the integration of scanning technology and bio-integrated architecture to establish a computational framework for adaptive tending.