Biofabrication Strategies for the Recycling of Tuscan White Marble By-products into Innovative Bio Building Materials

This paper presents an interdisciplinary design-driven research that explores biofabrication strategies for recycling by-products of Carrara white marble into innovative and sustainable building materials. The aim was to transform waste from marble processing into biofabricated materials through the use of photosynthetic organisms. The research combines sustainable design skills and agricultural microbiology to develop material samples according to the logic of Material Driven Design and Biodesign in a circular economy context. Cyanobacteria and microalgae cultures were used to induce the biomineralization of calcium carbonate, producing material samples that can find application in the field of green building and design. This study also proposes a model of collaboration between design and science and develops tools useful for understanding the design problem by designers. Tools that could be extended to other industrial supply chains, contributing to the necessary ecological transition as well as developing the interdisciplinary relationships essential to address the complex issues of the real context. The project results have a positive impact on the problematic context at multiple scales, both from the point of view of the consequences on the territory in terms of circular economy (Macro), and from the point of view of the products developed (Meso), and from the point of view of the biofabrication of the material by microorganisms (Micro).