This research thesis aims to investigate, through a mixture of the design practices of Digital Biofabrication, Material Driven Design and the Do It Yourself approach, the opportunities related to the field of product design generated by the combination of clay and fungal materials. In particular, the investigation is part of an implementation strand in which a new perspective emerges related to the figure of the designer himself, capable - through his choices - of shedding light on the paradox underlying the dynamics of industrial production systems and defining new ways of understanding materiality and the relationship with natural resources and living organisms. Within the contemporary scenario, in which the capitalist model sees the technosphere feeding at the expense of the biosphere, to the point of subjugating it in toxic logics, the contradictions of a system destined for collapse emerge that imposes, now more than ever, an escape from traditional production models. The need to escape the gravitational force exerted by anthropocentric dynamics has led to the emergence of new methods for sourcing, transforming and preserving resources based on the implementation of the metabolic processes of living organisms. Rooted in this vision, this work explores and employs Digital Biofabrication with the purpose of establishing a col-laborative relationship between the human, machine and biological organism components. In this context, the de-signer acts as a facilitator of the ideation, development and production process, while digital fabrication technolo-gies become a means of guiding the growth of living materials toward the achievement of specific design goals. With this in mind, Terraforma aims to explore and demonstrate the application possibilities that unfold at the inter-section of the material areas of greenware clay and mycelium in relation to 3D printing processes via Liquid Depo-sition Modeling, first from the standpoint of theorizing their compatibility, then through a field investigation of the fabrication, cultivation, and assembly phases involved. The final design output, a coffee table, is proposed as a kind of demonstrative manifesto of the potential material qualities of the hybrid material obtained within product appli-cations, but also of a mature design practice in which fabrication processes and assembly logics are themselves shaped by the metabolic processes of the organism.
Il presente elaborato di ricerca si propone di indagare, attraverso una commistione delle pratiche progettuali della Digital Biofabrication, Material Driven Design e l’approccio Do It Yourself, le opportunità relative al campo di design di prodotto generate dalla combinazione dei materiali argillosi e quelli fungini. In particolare, l’investigazione si inserisce in un filone attuativo in cui emerge una nuova prospettiva legata alla figura del progettista stesso, capace - con le sue scelte - di far luce sul paradosso alla base delle dinamiche dei sistemi di produzione industriale e definire delle nuove modalità di intendere la materialità ed il rapporto con le risorse naturali e gli organismi viventi. All’interno dello scenario contemporaneo, in cui il modello capitalista vede la tecnosfera alimentarsi a discapito della biosfera, fino a soggiogarla in logiche tossiche, emergono le contraddizioni di un sistema destinato al collasso che impone, ora più che mai, una fuga dai modelli di produzione tradizionali. La necessità di sfuggire alla forza gravitazionale esercitata dalle dinamiche antropocentriche, ha determinato la nascita di nuovi metodi per reperire, trasformare e preservare le risorse basati sull’implementazione dei processi metabolici degli organismi viventi. Affondando le radici in questa visione, questo lavoro esplora e impiega la Digital Biofabrication con il proposito di instaurare un rapporto collaborativo tra la componente umana, quella della macchina e quella degli organismi biologici. In questo contesto, il progettista agisce come facilitatore del processo di ideazione, sviluppo e produzione, mentre le tecnologie di fabbricazione digitale divengono un mezzo per guidare la crescita di materiali vivi verso il raggiungimento di specifici obiettivi progettuali. Con questa premessa, Terraforma ha lo scopo di esplorare e dimostrare le possibilità applicative che si sviluppano nell’intersezione delle aree materiche dell’argilla greenware e del micelio in relazione ai processi di stampa 3D tramite Liquid Deposition Modeling, prima da un punto di vista della teorizzazione della loro compatibilità, poi attraverso un’investigazione sul campo delle fasi di fabbricazione, coltivazione ed assemblaggio coinvolte. L’output di progetto finale, un tavolino da caffè, viene proposto come una sorta di manifesto dimostrativo delle qualità materiche potenziali del materiale ibrido ottenuto all’interno delle applicazioni di prodotto, ma anche di una pratica progettuale matura, in cui i processi di fabbricazione e le logiche di assemblaggio sono a loro volta plasmati dai processi metabolici dell’organismo.
TERRAFORMA - Material investigation on the possibilities to combine natural growth of mycelium and unfired clay for novel sustainable product design applications
Silvestri, Lorenzo
2022/2023
Abstract
This research thesis aims to investigate, through a mixture of the design practices of Digital Biofabrication, Material Driven Design and the Do It Yourself approach, the opportunities related to the field of product design generated by the combination of clay and fungal materials. In particular, the investigation is part of an implementation strand in which a new perspective emerges related to the figure of the designer himself, capable - through his choices - of shedding light on the paradox underlying the dynamics of industrial production systems and defining new ways of understanding materiality and the relationship with natural resources and living organisms. Within the contemporary scenario, in which the capitalist model sees the technosphere feeding at the expense of the biosphere, to the point of subjugating it in toxic logics, the contradictions of a system destined for collapse emerge that imposes, now more than ever, an escape from traditional production models. The need to escape the gravitational force exerted by anthropocentric dynamics has led to the emergence of new methods for sourcing, transforming and preserving resources based on the implementation of the metabolic processes of living organisms. Rooted in this vision, this work explores and employs Digital Biofabrication with the purpose of establishing a col-laborative relationship between the human, machine and biological organism components. In this context, the de-signer acts as a facilitator of the ideation, development and production process, while digital fabrication technolo-gies become a means of guiding the growth of living materials toward the achievement of specific design goals. With this in mind, Terraforma aims to explore and demonstrate the application possibilities that unfold at the inter-section of the material areas of greenware clay and mycelium in relation to 3D printing processes via Liquid Depo-sition Modeling, first from the standpoint of theorizing their compatibility, then through a field investigation of the fabrication, cultivation, and assembly phases involved. The final design output, a coffee table, is proposed as a kind of demonstrative manifesto of the potential material qualities of the hybrid material obtained within product appli-cations, but also of a mature design practice in which fabrication processes and assembly logics are themselves shaped by the metabolic processes of the organism.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/214660