Info

004: BioRock Series

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2024
3 of 3
Calcium Carbonate (deposited through seawater electroylsis), Lazer Cut Iron
Gili Trawangan, Indonesia


BioRock is a project that explores the potential of seawater as a building material.  Seawater, and the minerals contained within it, are some of the most abundant materials in the world and yet remain largely disregarded as a possible solution to the environmental crisis caused by the construction industry. 

The project focuses on BioRock or Mineral Accretion as its method of manufacturing. The process uses seawater electrolysis to grow a deposit of calcium carbonate around a metal frame similar to how coral polyps grow exoskeletons using the minerals found in seawater. The result is a material comparable to concrete with many advantages; additive, low cost, low energy, low material consumption with greater compressive strength than concrete.

The process is symbiotic with marine eco-systems.... it requires a steel frame cathode, low voltage power source and anode making it a highly reproducable and low cost solution that requires a fraction of the energy and raw materials  

The potential applications of the process ?

The project researches exisiting methods of manufacturing using BioRock and more traditonal materials such as concrete and limestone with the aim of creating a series of products that optimise these findings

Put simply, Biorock is a project that imitates nature in its deepest logic, finding low energy solutions with earth’s most abdudant materials.  

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