Cementing the Gap: Boundary Conditions as a Studio Strategy for Teaching MICP

Biodesign education increasingly incorporates living materials into studio teaching, yet biomineralisation processes such as Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) remain largely confined to laboratory contexts. Typically framed as a protocol requiring sterility, specialised equipment, and microbiological expertise, MICP is rarely positioned as a design-operable material system. This paper argues that the gap lies not in feasibility, but in how biological complexity is structured for studio engagement.

Drawing on workshops conducted at Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering, the study adapts MICP to unsterile studio conditions and develops a Boundary Conditions Framework through analysis of student fabrication decisions and material outcomes. The framework identifies outer, permeability, and material boundary conditions as spatial and material variables that regulate mineral formation. Rather than reproducing laboratory optimisation, students engaged microbial processes through mould design, interface permeability, and aggregate configuration, demonstrating a transferable strategy for studio-based biodesign education.