Material highlights at Dutch Design Week 2019
Tomorrow, Dutch Design Week 2019 kicks off. The largest design event in Northern Europe is once again a feast for creative professionals seeking material inspiration for their projects. Below, we listed some material highlights.
Wikkelhouse
This unique modular housing concept is made from cardboard. The cardboard is wrapped around a house-shape mould, creating a robust and lightweight sandwich structure. Read more about this project here.
Unseam
Unseam is a collaboration between designers Bas Froon and Karin Vlug that develops new technologies for local, digital and on-demand manufacturing of textile products. The studio developed technology to create seamless three dimensional shapes into textile by digitally programming shrinkage based on special material properties. In addition, they developed 3D shaped jellyfish leather together with C. van Alem.
Precious Plastic
Precious Plastic is an open-source community that designs new solutions ti tackle plastic waste. At DDW, they will launch version 4, while also showcasing the work of over 100 designers, engineers, developers, activists and chefs from all over the world. Read more about this project here.
Foamation
Designer Steven Akoun is exploring glass foam, usually hidden inside buildings as wall insulation, in everyday object. Akoun works with local partners and makes the material using recycled materials like glass bottles and egg shells.
Red Mud
Refining aluminium for industrial use creates a by-product called bauxite residue, also known as red mud. This toxic substance is usually left in pits, where it can leak into the environment. A team of graduates from the Royal College of Art developed a method to turn this by-product into ceramics. Read more about this project here.
In addition, the team is researching slags, a by-product of copper and steel industries, as cement alternatives. Known as geopolymers, these cements can outperform Portland cement at a fraction of the carbon footprint.
Beton-Lab
Speaking of sustainable concrete, Beton-Lab also uses a geopolymer concrete, without cement, made from locally sourced materials. They developed a wall tile for interior and exterior design using this material.
Claything
Claything developed textile-like structures made of clay, combining traditional ceramic techniques with digital manufacturing methods. Read more about this project here.
Casein
Casein is bioplastic that can be made from milk. Designer Eunji Jun’s project “From peels to casein” uses industrial dairy surplus to make this material, dyed with plant-based food waste.
Sea Stone
London-based designer duo Newtab-22 created a concrete-like material made from non-toxic natural materials sourced from the seafood industry. Every year, 7 million tons of seashells are discarded, and most of them go to the landfill. Sea Stone is made from these seashells.
Mycelium pavilion
Mycelium are tiny fungal threads that produce mushrooms and can grow on food waste. When made inactive, the material remains a compact network of Styrofoam-like properties. In the construction industry, mycelium is still relatively unknown, which Atelier Tom Veeger would like to change. Combing mycelium with vacuuming techniques, the material becomes even stronger. To show its potential, a mycelium pavilion will be erected.
Photos via DDW