Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Material



Potential characteristics I'm looking for in a material:

1 Limited life-span
2 Perhaps obsolete (out-moded technology)
3 Abundant
4 Free
5 Locally available / universally available
6 Malleable structural properties (adaptable)
7 Routable

What I'm considering:

Newspaper: Life span of 1 day. All but obsolete in its physical form. Abundant. Free after disposal. Essentially wood pulp, can be reconstituted into rigid structure. Examples of this already exist: Newspaper wood! (See above) http://www.nextnature.net/2010/11/newspaper-wood/

Books (phone books): Similar to newspaper. Can be stitched, broken down and remolded, stacked, etc. Potential to be routed. Available in abundance at local recycling centers. A slightly ridiculous precedent: http://inhabitat.com/tu-delft-architecture-library-opens-with-desk-of-recycled-books/

Others: CDs / Tapes; wood palettes, packing foam, shipping containers.

Any ideas?

2 comments:

  1. This is a great start, Parker! And I'm excited about your routed tests as well. Here's a link to Studio Libertiny's paper vases with pictures of it's production process.

    http://www.dezeen.com/2007/12/14/paper-vases-by-studio-libertiny/

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  2. I also like the idea of a material with various life spans/lives. Newspaper is only valued for a day and then immediately becomes obsolete, but takes much longer to decompose.

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