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Myko, the sustainable construction project designed and developed by Laura Ángel Orozco and Cristian Camilo Marín Correa, students of the Master's Degree in Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urban Planning and Design at the Universitat Politècnica de València (MAPUD-UPV), is the winner of the fifth edition of the imaginPlanet Challenge, the national competition to promote entrepreneurship among young people and generate business ideas that help combat climate change, organised by imagin, the neobank promoted by CaixaBank.

Their proposal, based on economical, fireproof, therm-acoustic insulated panels made from composted agricultural waste with mycelium (a network of fungal filaments similar to plant roots), was conceived, as Laura explains, last February.

‘Apolonia Begoña Serrano, our "Technology and Sustainability" lecturer, challenged us to find a sustainable solution for construction by proposing a new material,' recalls the Colombian student. "So we started working on it and came up with mycelium. We saw that it could be used to make panels, and we got the project off the ground," adds the UPV student, who previously graduated in Architecture from the Catholic University of Pereira (Colombia).

Victory in the Dream BIG hackathon... and onwards, the national competition

‘After that,’ she continues, ‘we received an email from IDEAS with the opportunity to participate in the Dream BIG hackathon, organised locally by imagin, which gave us the option of competing at the national level.’

After winning Dream BIG on 14 March, Cristian and Laura reached the final stage of the competition, where the 10 best projects from the 618 participating teams competed — more than 4,000 young people took part in this edition and 11,000 since the creation of the imaginPlanet Challenge — and they did not do it alone.

‘IDEAS, the UPV's Entrepreneurship Area, helped us a lot,’ Laura points out. ‘With the pitch, the project, obtaining the necessary certificates... We would like to give special thanks to Lorena Pedrós and, of course, to Apolonia, Carlos Hidalgo, Nicolás Ruiz and the rest of the team. We are very grateful to the UPV for giving us all these opportunities and tools.'

Incubation programme in Silicon Valley with visits to Netflix, Google HQ and Instagram and talks by top international speakers in the field

With the help and training of the UPV, but above all with their own effort and talent, Laura and Cristian Camilo won the imaginPlanet Challenge. Their victory, in addition to the prestige of winning a competition of this level, will allow the two UPV students to participate in an incubation programme in Silicon Valley from 10 to 27 July after a series of presentations in Las Vegas.

The project acceleration programme will include visits to companies such as Netflix, Google HQ, Instagram, HP and IDEO, among others, and talks by six surprise guests, all leading figures in the field.

Second place in the national Climate LaunchPad and qualified for the European competition.

But the victory in the imaginPlanet Challenge is not the only success achieved by Myko in recent days. In fact, we must add the second place obtained by Cristian Camilo and Laura in the national final of the prestigious international competition for innovative proposals to mitigate climate change, Climate Launchpad, held in Valencia last Friday.

This result will also allow Myko to compete in the European final of the Climate Launchpad next October against the two best projects from the other 41 participating European countries, with their sights set on qualifying for the grand final in Vienna.

It is worth noting that , another entrepreneurial initiative promoted and advised by IDEAS UPV, which offers solutions based on biomaterials and alternative recycling to replace traditional plastics in the industry.

Finalists in Santander X

And that's not all. Alongside the imaginPlanet Challenge and the Climate Launchpad, Myko is in the running for a third award that could come in the next few weeks, as it is among the finalists for Santander X, the competition organised by Banco Santander that awards 185 prizes of 2,000 euros to the best university projects, with the results to be announced in early July.

Technology, design and ecology, together for a fairer and more conscious society

'What we do is use agricultural waste, which we inoculate with mycelium, the root of the fungus, to compact all the panels. We also design a formula so that the panels form a modular system that fits together like Lego,' explains Laura.

'They're not just panels,' she adds, 'but standard 2.40 by 1.20-metre walls that fit together. The great thing about these panels is that they are compostable, provide thermal and acoustic insulation, are fireproof and, for example, are cheaper than plasterboard. Moreover, you can install a metre in just 15 minutes.'

For his part, Cristian Camilo is clear that "Myko is a critical and creative response to the challenges we architects face today, to the current environmental and climate crisis, with new ways of understanding architecture and construction, not only from the point of view of space design but also by paying attention to the materials they are made of. Human beings are currently obligated to reconnect with nature and look at it again because it almost always provides solutions and answers to all the problems that the evolution of civilisation can generate. That is why we must re-establish that bond we have."

An architect from the National University of Colombia and awarded a scholarship by the Colombian government to continue his studies abroad, Cristian Camilo chose 'the UPV and, within it, the MAPUD because it has the approach I want, combining architecture with sustainable living'.

'It has been a challenging process,' acknowledges the South American student, 'but with excellent results in a short time, so we have high hopes for this project that combines technology, design and ecology and helps to create a more just and conscious society.'

A project that aims high and will hold a round of investment in Barcelona in October

With two awards in less than a week and a possible third award coming in the next few days, the project aims high. Not surprisingly, despite its relatively recent creation, it has already attracted the attention of specialists in the field. The next step will be to hold a round of investment in Barcelona next October.

Obviously, no one knows for sure what the future holds, but what is certain is that Cristian and Laura's idea continues to crystallise into an increasingly promising company... Are we witnessing the birth of the future of sustainable construction?

Carlos Ayats Pérez / UPV Communication Area