Spin doctors: Lab uses silkworms to create dome

The Silk Pavilion ‘explores the relationship between digital and biological fabrication on product and architectural scales’, according to a project description from Mediated Matter. The structure began as 26 polygons arranged as scaffolding. A CNC (computer-numerically controlled) machine first spun silk threads across each flat shape to create a surface of variable density, with occasional gaps and holes.

For the next phase of construction, researchers used a swarm of 6,500 silkworms as a ‘biological printer in the creation of a secondary structure’. Following their natural instincts, the silkworms filled in the gaps between the threads already in place, creating a more finely textured second surface. 

For more on the convergence of design and biology, see the Bio-facture section of our Re-enlightenment Rising macrotrend.