Exploring the properties of resin  

Fabien Barrero-Carsenat’s ‘Pinus Pinaster’ (aka the Maritime Pine) collection is an exploration of resin. It all started when Barrero-Carsenat was wandering through a pine forest in the south of France and brown droplets of resin shining in the sunlight.

Curious, Barrero-Carsenat researched the history and composition of resin and then created a series of sustainable and eco-friendly applications for the material; cheese covers and trays, a carafe, a fruit bay, a lamp and an electric socket. “Every one is a result based on my resin exploration, each using a singular property.” says Barrero-Carsenat.

Cheese Cover and Tray make use of the anti-bacterial and fungicidal properties of resin. “What place is there in contemporary life for old fashioned cheese preservation? Nowadays we are used to think fridge only. This application uses the anti-bacterial substance contained inside resin. Using this method traditional cheese can stay longer in the maturity stage you like, without definitely stopping the cheese aging process. The covers can be used with three different wood trays, each with unique characteristics; Cedar, strong perfumed recommended for persons who want their cheese flavored and preserved longer, Cherry, an aesthetic tray for smooth and delicate taste and Hornbeam, a neutral tray with no smells.” Imperfections in the production of these items gave the pieces a unique material identity and aesthetic dimension.The Standard Carafe for drinking water uses the waterproofing qualities of resin and is made with unglazed white ceramic outside and a resin layer inside. “Every ‘bistro’ or popular restaurant [in France] re-uses empty wine bottles to serve the free drinking water on tables. This carafe design is a popular french restaurant standard. Waterproofing with resin means x12 the energy saved. You do not need to bake the ceramic at 1200°C a second time, resin is liquid enough at 85°C.”

The Electric Wall Socket is made “recycling all of my experiment’s waste. Installed inside our homes, this standard requires no change, it has to be static. Using a complex composite of resin waste, we are not only producing a simple standard, but also recycling all the unconsumed material in a cradle to cradle cycle. Moreover, the resin changes color with passing time, offering a ‘static evolution’ of our sockets, behaving like the Wabi-Sabi Japanese philosophy whose exposed object gets nicer and better day after day.” Photos: Paula Cermeno.

With the realisation that the ageing baby boomers are one of the largest demographic group and are living longer and more active lives we are beginning to see a rash of designs tailored to this new and growing market. One such product is Dirk Biotto's called ChopChop is a kitchen that aims to make cooking a meal safer and more accessible.

As aging baby boomers proliferate, the design community has become increasingly attuned to their needs. Take Dirk Biotto. The Berlin-based industrial designer has created a kitchen prototype that aims to make cooking a meal easier, safer, and more accessible for the elderly.

Called ChopChop, his design features a counter that is height adjustable and a backboard that hangs easily accessible kitchen utensils. An extendable hose allows pots to be filled from greater distances, so people don’t have to lug heavy pots of water across the kitchen. And if you want to fill a pot directly from the tap, a sloped sink makes it easy to slide heavy pots onto the working surface. The kitchen also takes inspiration from woodworking, and features a vise, which secures bottles and cans in place for easy opening.

Continuing the theme around future synthetic cosmetics and beauty care, Lucy Mcrae has released her latest film in collaboration with Nowness exploring her swallowable parfum concept. Similarly to Amy Congdon the relationship between synthetic biology and cosmetics is a growing area of exploration for designers and scientist. As Lucy describes in her accompanying interview , “We are living in an era of no rules; technology is corrupting nature’s ballot, forcing us to redefine our bodies’ limitations and boundaries,” Lucy believes that in the not too distant future we will be eating our cosmetics to enhance our skin luminosity, colour and scent.  

We love the work of Studio Fludd and their alchemic approach to design so were delighted by their latest project 'Poor Tools' exploring up-cycling, materiality and a touch of humour. Invited by the art collective How We Dwell ,they spent a week in November on an almost deserted island in front of Venice, Italy.

Whilst there they worked with the materials to be found on the island and the small kit of tools left for them. Collecting natural and artificial findings on the island (including rubbish) they created a series of objects that tell a narrative about the wildly chaotic environment that is the island with wild goats wandering around contrasted witt the new offices and hotel being built there.

They created a wunderkammer housing their engaging and delightful objects and tools which tell a story in their own right.

Shown as part of the Dutch Invertuals exhibition at Dutch Design week which explored how contemporary designers could update craft, these beautiful ceramics by Kirstie Van Noort are made by building up coloured layers that are then CNC milled to reveal the imperfect beauty of hand craft.

Materiologist James Shaw explores varying processes and materials upcycling through his projects Making Guns. 'Making Guns; Plastic Extruding Gun' takes a cumbersome manufacturing process and turns it into a hand held process. Using recycled HDPE (a type of polymer) he has created a series of alchemic forms that celebrate the properties of the material.

Also part of the same series, Shaw has created a gun that sprays recycled paper fiber and a binder that mix in the air. Mixing colour as well to his formula he has re defined the notions of papier mâché creating ombre effects when sprayed onto wire frame structures that create solid forms.

Textile student Ejing Zhang explores materiality through craft, colour and process. Graduating from the Royal College of Art from the school of materials with a masters in Mixed media textiles, her material explorations made from bamboo, cast resin, peach wood and wrapped thread have a beautiful and delicate quality to them. Collated into a collection titled 'Moonrise' she has explored Chinese craftsmanship and modern day manufacturing techniques that resulted in a series of beautiful objects such as a lunch box as well as bracelets and handbags.

She also collaborated with another student to create a 3D printed tote bag.

Another project exploring the importance of smiling and happiness, the Smile Bot was created as a smile catcher and to encourage people to smile more in the depressed world we live in currently. Designed to be approachable and to elicit a smile, the bot uses sound effects and an interactive smile screen and smile counter. Using facial recognition technology and a smile detection algorithm the bot reacts to peoples smile and changes its own face from a sad blue to a happier colour when capturing real smiles.

When it is at its happiest and when 4 people are smiling simultaneously the 'Ultra-smile Mode' is reached and a rainbow emerges inside the bots belly.

Published on Nowness as part of their food series, Lucy McRae explores the ideas of gene manipulation and cloning with her Make your Maker film. Exploring notions of edible clones and a new sensory experience she conjures up the idea that food and the body are inseperable - a dialogue she has developed with Nahji Chu the savant owner of Australian cult restaurant MissChu.

An evolution of her film for Aesop titled Morphe Lucy further explores a future landscape through beautiful cinematography, colour and materiality