“The creation of something light is not just a matter of choosing a low-density material.”
INSPIRATIONS Since I wanted to make a new material that is lightweight, I looked for inspiration in the production of food products and how they were made airier. How are coockies like maltesers made? Or what is the best way to beat whipped cream? The ingredients and methods used in these food products helped me to find the best methods in the bioplastics. I found further inspiration in how designers take on this problem in Ed van Hinte’s book ‘Designing lightness’ (2020). This taught me how nature makes shapes in response to weight and stress. Bioplastic cookbooks have also helped me to make a basic bioplastic recipes. Cookbooks such as Miriam Ribul’s ‘Recipes for Material Activism’ (2014) and the ‘Bioplastic Cook Book’ by Margaret Dunne (2018).
Photo 4: page from Designing lightness
Foam like materials are filled with a lot of air. This makes the material a lot more lightweight than it actually is. Foam can be made by blowing a gas through a liquid substance. Both plastics and metals can be made this way. The gas constributes to the structure making foam a two material kind of material.
Another way to make a material appear lighter than it is is to make them in a string like structure. It is not a less solid form than the foam is but can be very strong.
And foremost my fellow students have given a lot of inspiration with their bioplastic methods and applications.
6 Photo 5: Miriam Ribuls nonwovens
