03 Deliverables Roots

Background

At the beginning, I decided to work with roots because I had previously experimented with them and found their growth process relatively accessible and adaptable. Although I had not developed this proposal during Week 7 of Biofabricating Materials, I became increasingly interested in the way roots operate as underground networks that connect and sustain living systems.

Imagining roots as interconnected structures became a powerful metaphor for the type of connection I wanted to explore through the project: relationships that are distributed, interdependent, and often invisible. This perspective aligned closely with the idea of relationality and with the intention of creating a system where bodies, environments, plants, and technologies interact as part of the same living network.

Figure 1:Root growth experimentation inside a controlled box structure used to observe relational growth patterns and material behavior.

A key material and methodological reference is Rootfull, the creative studio founded by Zena Holloway, which explores guided plant root growth as a living material for lighting and sculptural design. Through beeswax templates, roots are encouraged to weave themselves into organic structures inspired by marine ecosystems and natural growth patterns. Rootfull’s practice proposes an alternative approach to material production based on collaboration with living systems rather than industrial extraction, emphasizing regeneration, growth, and ecological awareness.

The project is also influenced by research in digital biofabrication and root-based design systems, particularly studies investigating plant roots as structural and responsive materials. These approaches understand roots not as passive matter, but as living systems capable of adaptation, interconnection, and distributed growth. Such perspectives reinforce the project’s interest in relationality and network-based forms of existence.

Additional inspiration comes from biohybrid and speculative design projects such as FloraRobotica and ReRoot, which explore interactions between plants, technology, architecture, and responsive systems. These works challenge human-centered design paradigms by positioning non-human organisms as active participants in the construction of environments and experiences.

The theoretical framework is informed by concepts from plant thinking and more-than-human philosophy, particularly ideas surrounding relational ontology, interdependence, and ecological entanglement. Thinkers such as Michael Marder, Donna Haraway, and Karen Barad provide a foundation for understanding existence as something constituted through relationships rather than individual autonomy.

Together, these references support the project’s central proposition: technology can function not as a mechanism of separation from nature, but as an interface for perceiving the invisible ecological networks that connect bodies, plants, environments, and living systems.

Design Process

Design Process

I began the project by deciding to work from a natural form that could serve as a growth pattern for the roots. Since the concept of the project focused on relationality and interconnected systems, I was interested in finding organic structures that already embodied those qualities in nature.

I became particularly interested in the way moss grows over tree surfaces. What attracted me was not only its texture, but the way it expands as an interconnected network, spreading through surfaces in irregular yet continuous formations. I saw this growth logic as a metaphor for the type of distributed connections I wanted the project to represent.

Using photographs and visual references of moss patterns, I brought the images into Photoshop and experimented with the posterize tool to simplify and abstract the organic forms into high-contrast shapes. This process allowed me to identify potential pathways and structures that could later guide the root growth.

After selecting a composition, I imported the abstracted pattern into Rhino, where I began modeling the geometry digitally. My initial idea was to create a three-dimensional mold through 3D printing and later cast the mold for root growth. However, during the development process, I realized that this approach would be difficult to execute because of the complexity of extraction and the unpredictable behavior of the roots inside enclosed volumes.

Because of this, I shifted the strategy toward a flat format that would allow the roots to grow more openly across the surface. I then redesigned the pattern thinking specifically about which areas would be perforated using the CNC router. This process helped define the channels, voids, and surfaces that would later guide the roots while maintaining the interconnected structure inspired by moss growth.