Future Architecture: Digesting Walls

A bio reactor inside a wall in your house may sound a bit scary. Some researcher, however, thought this could be a great idea and started the LIAR (Living Architecture) project. They are working at the University of West England to design and develop a modular bioreactor-wall with living bricks, turning a wall into a digesting organism.

Each brick will contain a fuel reactor filled with algae and microbial cels. These microbial fuel cels respond to the environment they are in, choosing to create energy, clean the air or even reclaim new chemicals, like phosphate. With this invention, for instance, the waste water of your home or office could go into the wall and coming out clear and drinkable. Or what happens to power sockets when your whole wall is generating energy?

Rachel Armstrong, Professor of Experimental Architecture at Newcastle University and co-ordinator of the living brick project, says: “The best way to describe what we’re trying to create is a 'biomechanical cow's stomach’. It contains different chambers, each processing organic waste for a different, but overall related, purpose – like a digestive system for your home or your office".

Are you curious to know more about living architecture? Rachel Armstrong is one of our ambassadors, in this interview she explained us more about her research in living architecture.

Source: New Castle University, Inhabitat. Image: Inhabitat