Ian Fletcher
Ian A. Fletcher has worked in architectural practice in Trinidad and Tobago and taught at Carleton University in Canada and at the Birmingham School of Architecture before joining the Leeds School of Architecture. Fletcher is interested in theoretical and practical urban scale ideas, which can help post-industrial cities transition towards self-sufficiency. His research aims to promote an ecological rethinking of post-industrial infrastructures and waste management to maximize local biomaterial production. In April, Fletcher successfully completed his Ph.D. in the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing at Leeds Beckett University. His Ph.D. thesis, "A Biobased Composite prepared with Agricultural By-products, Fungi and Wastes: A Material Evaluation," investigated the development of mycelium biocomposites made from locally sourced organic materials in the Yorkshire region to reduce the construction industry's reliance on fossil-dependent materials and as a major driving force for developing bioindustries in rural areas in the United Kingdom.
Related News
Classes (Selected)
- ARCH 4408/4605/6408/6605.106 Special Topics in Construction: material re.form
- ARCH 4101/4102/5101/7112.506 Option Studio: Contested Ecologies
Awards, Grants, and Fellowships (Selected)
- 2023 Research England and Leeds Beckett University Equity and Inclusion Research Fund — An Investigation on the Effects of using Vacuum Infusion to produce Laminate Mycelium Biocomposities with locally sourced Flax and Hemp Fibres, Woven Flax, and Hemp-fibre Cloths, and Bioresin.
- 2023 Research England and Leeds School of Arts Seed Funding — An exploration of Upcycling Fashion Waste Fabrics using Fungi.
Exhibitions and Presentations (Selected)
- 2020 Invited keynote speaker at 1E9 Conference "A New Humanity," at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.
Publications (Selected)
- 2020 "How Fungi Can Help Create a Green Construction Industry" [Online]. The Conversation. Available from: https://theconversation.com/how-fungi-can-help- create-a-green-construction-industry-128041.
- 2019 "Effect of Temperature and Growth Media on Mycelium Growth of Pleurotus Ostreatus and Ganoderma Lucidum Strains". Cohesive Journal of Microbiology & Infectious Disease [Online], 2 (5). Available from: https://crimsonpublishers.com/cjmi/fulltext/CJMI.000549.php.