Transmaterial » fiber

Mycoply

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:00:55 +0000

Mycoply board is a mycological biomaterial that is actually grown in a few months. It has properties similar to balsa wood and can be easily formed when saturated, yet will hold shape once dried. Athough balsa wood is biodegradable and natural, it is not easy renewable and disrupts its local environment when harvested. Mycoply, however, is rapidly renewable, grown using agricultural byproducts, and does not interrupt its surrounding ecosystem. Mycoply can replace core materials such as balsa, honey comb, or a variety of petrol foams for wind turbine blades, boat hulls, lightweight vehicle panels and many other applications.

Mycoply also represents a low-embodied-energy manufacturing process as the material self assembles at room temperature and pressure in the dark. Additionally, its performance is superior in many ways to current structural core materials due to the ease in which it may be bent and formed. MycoPly reduces waste as it is grown to near-net shape and does not require post-processing.

Contact: Ecovative Design, Troy, NY, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Digital Dawn

Blaine Brownell — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:00:46 +0000

Designed by Rachel Wingfield, Digital Dawn is a textile that responds to environmental stimuli. Digital Dawn functions as a traditional window blind with a reactive surface that is in constant flux, growing in luminosity in response to its surroundings.

Wingfield intended Digital Dawn to emulate the process of photosynthesis using electroluminescent printing technology. Light-dependent sensors monitor the changing light levels within a space, triggering the growth of the organic foliage on the blind. A natural environment will appear to grow on the window surface, exploring how changing light levels within a space can have profound and physiological impact on our sense of well-being.

Contact: Loop.pH Ltd & Elumin8, London, UK.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Litmuscreen

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:00:07 +0000

Jordan Geiger developed Litmuscreen as an architectural and product design material based on the performance and properties of litmus paper. Litmuscreen is a simple modification to an old technology—the adaptation of chemical properties found in lichen to indicate acid/base imbalances in a liquid. In this product’s application, a rugged textile suitable to exterior uses displays shifts in color to red or blue as an indicator of environmental pollutants in rain. The intuitive interface provides real-time information regarding local air pollution conditions, without the use of electricity or additional construction.

Contact: Ga-Ga, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Cork Fabric

Blaine Brownell — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:00:25 +0000

London-based designer Yemi Awosile has developed a new fabric from an innovative combination of repurposed cork and elastane. Cork Fabric is suited to interior design applications such as upholstery, wall coverings, and wall panels, and benefits from the high elasticity of elastane fiber as well as the acoustic and thermal insulating properties found in cork. The cork is made with the by-products from wine stopper production and is treated with a metallic finish. The fabric is available in a variety of colors and fiber combinations.

Contact: Yemi Awosile, London, UK.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Woven Horsehair

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:00:47 +0000

Marianne Kemp develops woven textiles out of unconventional combinations of materials. Using small bunches of horsehair interwoven with linen or cotton, Kemp creates curious fabrics in diverse colors and textures. The horsehair is sourced from live horses overseas, mainly from Mongolia. In the weaving process, Kemp manipulates the bunches through knotting, curling, and looping. Each final weaving expresses the unique shine, texture, and flexibility of the horsehair fiber.

Kemp explains, “I’m fascinated by the movement of the weavings, how the horsehair is manifest in the net of the weaving technique. Also, the way the light falls on the weaving plays an important role in the process. Each piece of work has its own unique character.”

Contact: Marianne Kemp, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

Give Back Curtain

Blaine Brownell — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:00:51 +0000

The Give Back Curtain is part of a series of techno-fabric designs that rethink the traditional and modern applications of portable fabric screens. The Give Back Curtain gives a pliable fabric matrix the capacity to illuminate, define space dynamically over time, and provide a portable form of privacy without partitions.

The Give Back Curtain recycles light through a fabrication process that integrates photo-luminescent pigments in synthetic or natural fibers. Light of a shorter wavelength, such as sunlight or fluorescent light, is absorbed by the fabric, retained, and then released as visible light emitted within another part of the color spectrum.

Contact: Sheila Kennedy with Sheetal Khanna-Ravitch, Boston, MA, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Mycobond

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:00:40 +0000

Mycobond is a mycological bio-composite that can be used in a wide variety of applications. Instead of conventional manufacturing processes, Mycobond uses mycelium—which is essentially the root system of a mushroom—to transform loose aggregates into strong composites. This process can be varied by using different species of fungus and mixtures of aggregates in order to make a composite with an optimal density, strength, appearance, and performance for the specific application.

Additionally, Mycobond represents a low-embodied-energy manufacturing process as the material self assembles at room temperature and pressure in the dark. Furthermore, Mycobond upcycles resources like rice hulls, cotton burrs, and buckwheat hulls that are otherwise thrown away, transforming them into valuable products, including rigid board insulation and protective packaging buffers.

Contact: Ecovative Design, Troy, NY, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial 3.

NovaCork

Blaine Brownell — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:04 +0000

NovaCork panels are ideal for tackable surface applications located in high-traffic areas. The combination of post-consumer recycled cork and a post-consumer recycled Homasote substrate provides a durable and environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional cork boards. NovaCork panels are also available with a Class A fire-rating.

Contact: Homasote, West Trenton, NJ, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Durra

Blaine Brownell — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:51:39 +0000

Durra Building Systems manufactures engineered acoustic wall, roof, and ceiling systems for venues such as theaters, airports, convention centers, and other spaces that have high acoustic demands.

The Durra Acoustic Panel is made from wheat straw and recycled paper, and it eliminates the need for multiple layers of drywall and up to half the studs used with conventional systems based on its structural rigidity.

The Durra Roofing System combines the roof with the finished ceiling, allowing both economic and construction-time savings. The Durra roof is constructed on the ground in sections of one thousand square feet and flown into place. In this way, each section can be installed at a rate of every two hours.

Contact: Durra Building Systems, Whitewright, TX, USA.
Find more information in Transmaterial.

Husque

Blaine Brownell — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:00:34 +0000

Before 1857, the macadamia nut grew nowhere else except on the mid–east coast of Australia. Australia is the largest producer of the macadamia and generates a large amount of discarded shells.

Queensland-based designer Marc Harrison seized this opportunity to reuse this waste material to create beautiful new products. After the macadamia kernels are removed, Harrison mills the discarded shells into fine particles and melds them with a polymer. He then molds the composite into various functional objects and surfaces.

Not dissimilar in appearance to Bakelite, Husque has a silky texture that can be enhanced by polishing with macadamia oil or wax timber polishes. It can be machined and has extensive applications in design and architecture. Husque can be lined with colors that can be machine polished to lacquerlike mirror finishes.

Contact: Husque Pty Ltd, Moorooka, Queensland, Australia.
Find more information in Transmaterial 2.