HYPHAE /

The origin of mushroom cultivation in Spain is located in Logroño and it does not do so by historical chance, but by suitable physical, climatic and geographical conditions. However, the development of the mushroom entails many wastes: since they do not have chlorophyll, they need a compost substrate from which they absorb nutrients, which, after the cultivation cycle, cannot be reused.

Originally, it meant the abandonment of the caves, the contamination of the architecture and the rupture of the urban fabric, allowing tradition to flee from its  origin. As a consequence, the Smart Mushroom project has been created at European level, demonstrating the possibility of generating biogas with the substrate. Thus, the profitability of the farms is improved, the waste represents a lower cost, unnecessary transport is avoided and the environmental impact is reduced.

​

Through the analysis and knowledge of the mushroom, the architecture is formed. Its cultivation conditions make the heart of hyphae underground cellars that allow the use of the thermal inertia of the land through the observation of traditional architecture. Inertia cushions sudden changes in temperature, favoring stable hygrothermal conditions that are suitable for human biology through the regularization of humidity conditions to vary the thermal sensation. To control them effectively, the buried vernacular construction is equipped with particular ventilation elements: the chimneys.

​

Some chimneys are projected (mechanisms of  exchange) arranged between 6 and 12 meters that contribute to generating pressure differences to have a constant indirect ventilation. These elements regulate the temperature of the building through the exchange of currents using the sun as an absorption element and allow the elimination of substances that are harmful to the user through a material that has sufficient density to provide thermal inertia. The thermal circuit is completed with water coils creating a radiant and cooling system for day and night. These mechanisms are also structure and programmatic spaces. Its execution is carried out in situ in reinforced concrete -in order to recycle the material after the end of its useful life- through climbing formwork that adapts to the geometry to avoid wasting resources.

​

All these elements generate a compact section that intersperses the programs derived from mushroom cultivation, playing with the layout of the structure and its program. Hyphae thus becomes a project in which mushrooms, tradition, technology and energy coexist.