Self-repairing concrete for live fungus.

Entering regenerative architecture. And if the buildings of the future were alive, yes, literally alive and if the walls could heal themselves like the skin regenerating a cut, it seems like science fiction but researchers from Montana State University began to take the first steps towards that reality. Creating a new construction material based on fungi and live bacteria capable of self-repair, purifying the environment and remaining biologically active for weeks, that is the idea behind the so-called living concrete, an innovation that can completely transform the way we build houses, buildings and even urban infrastructure, taking civil construction into a new era, the era of regenerative architecture.

The material is composed of fungal mycelium of the species Neurospora crassa, that orange mold that sometimes appears on bread, combined with active bacterial cells. This mycelium forms a dense and resistant network that serves as a base for the controlled growth of bacteria and that is precisely where the magic happens. healthy. Unlike traditional concrete that requires certain setting conditions and emits large volumes of CO2, this biomaterial is produced at low temperatures and with low carbon emissions, thanks to the biological activity of fungi and bacteria.

Tests demonstrated that the material remains functional for more than a month, exceeding the useful life of most known biomaterials; this durability is essential for real-world applications where structures need to withstand time, pressure and environmental variations. Living concrete fits perfectly into a new paradigm, responsive and adaptive materials and most promisingly, researchers seek to integrate intelligent autonomous maintenance systems in buildings. Imagine sensors that detect structural failures and activate areas of the material to grow where they are needed, as if the building itself were a living creature with an immune system and integrated response mechanisms.

The material can also be molded into complex architectural shapes, constraining internal structures of human bones, increasing strength and reducing weight. If until now architecture built with dead materials, the future seems to reserve an era where buildings can be born, grow, heal and evolve, of course all this is still quite far away, one thing is to have something on a small scale, another is to create a truly living structure and paraphrasing Arthur C. Clarke "it is a fact that the future may seem like magic in our eyes."