Fifth-Year Spotlight: Gabby Brookings

This week we are excited to highlight fifth-year undergraduate student Gabby Brooking’s work on material exploration. 

This project is focused on exploring the architectural potential of mycelium, a sustainable and biodegradable material, through the design and construction of a wall system. The aim is to investigate through a comparative study, how different substrate mixes can affect the aesthetic and compositional potentials of mycelium,  furthering an understanding of its material properties. 

A wall system will be the vehicle to display and demonstrate these experiments with different mycelium panels highlighting various compositions. The goal is to illustrate how mycelium can be used not only as a sustainable alternative but also as another medium for architectural applications and expression. The project is part of an ongoing initiative with Virginia Tech’s BioDesign Lab, building on graduate student Avery Gendall’s research which investigates the application and material properties of mycelium. By stepping beyond the traditional architectural boundaries and exploring intersections with biological systems engineering and industrial design research, new opportunities arise for material performance and environmentally responsive design.