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6. BioFabricating Materials

References & Inspiration

We explored the theme of BioMaterials for the week 06. We enjoyed firstly a lecture from Cecilia from the Textilelab in Amsterdam.

She is defining 3 categories for BioMaterials : BioBased, BioDegradable & BioCompostable.

And 5 typologies of material sources : animal, vegetal, microbial, fungal, biosynthetic.

Then she proposed a segmentation between families of current existing products : BioPlastics, Natural Leathers, BioFabrics & Yarns.

Some references, mainly developed from algae

get inspired!

Here are some projects examples presented during Cecilia's lecture that seem very inspiring :

Loes Bogers Eric Klarenbeek & Maartje Dros Carolyn Raff Alessia Pasquini Beatriz Sandini Paula Cermeno Leon Ottan Studio Lara Campos Nienke Hoogvliet Emma Van Der Leest Verena Brom Elissa Brunato

These references are available in a open Miro board with other weeks inspirations : INSPIRATIONS

Research

My first exploration, coming from the lecture recipes

  • I didn't have Gelatine at my disposal for my 1st trial, and tested same ratios by replacing it with Arabic Gum and then with Agar Agar. It is not working with Arabic Gum (it stays liquid), and it creates a more dense bio material with Agar. Other recipes are available below for Agar resins, with better ratios.

  • Usually, Gelatine or Agar are used as gellants, and Glycerine, is here to make the final texture more or less flexible. This component is also used in soap production. Plenty of Glycerine ratios are possible for each recipe depending on the desired texture.

Products used for this first exploration and the texture evolution after 1 day. We can see here that the mix is not gelling in the previous picture, and it was similar after 1 day.
Task

Here is a Miro board with initial and adaptated recipes of each week EXPLORATIONS.

Tip

We have a nice drugstore for specific chemical products in Brussels called Le Lion.

  • I forgot at this time that some recipes with Agar were also included in the lecture and kept the same recipe, adding Pollen then Spirulina to create green colors. Pollen is switching the mix to a yellowish green, and Spirulina to a deep green that I appreciate. I have tested different kind of pots (glass & plastic, different shapes) and thought it was interesting, with this high density of resin, to try to make embossed reliefs.

  • For explorations in Gelatine, I re-used Gelatine bio-resin scraps from Stephanie's production, with a recipe from Green Fabric workshop, using lower quantity of each products.

Some tests using some embroidery hoops as proposed in the Green Fabric tutorial. It was nice to compare Indigo, Garance and Spirulina for resin coloration, and to play with existing relief materials such as bullion paper.
  • A glass surface cools the resin more quickly than a plastic surface, and make resin's look more shiny & transparent. This gave me the idea of using samples of architectural casted glass that I'd kept from a previous work experience, to reproduce their imprint while cooling the resins quickly and make it shiny/transparent.

Tip

It is marketing glass samples, sometimes available at craft stores for free. I am sometimes collaborating with flat glass manufacturers specialized in small quantities, such as Eurover in Belgium, for glazing that is not already available at Brico stores.

  • Here is an overview of AGC architectural products. And some nice lectures from history casted glass processes from Saint-Gobain.

  • As Zellige I explored a little bit during my week 03, I like these timeless architectural ornaments. And I find interesting to explore ways of using it differently than usual, like applying these patterns to products/fabrics, develop digital ways of texturing glass, reinterpretate it in code.

Next steps

  • Next to these Agar & Gelatine trials, we have launched together with Stéphanie & Eileen two tests of Kombucha leather. It is taking few weeks (2 to 4) to have results. On our side, the solutions didn't last in the workshop and went mouldy. We were unable to add sugar regularly as recommended.
Task

I have tested some Kombucha solutions for my final project in 2024, with better results. Steps of the project are available here : DEVELOPMENT

  • Our 1st option was to follow the standard recipe of Kombucha leather, using tea, thanks to the tutorial of Lorena Trebbi.

  • Then we tested a beer kombucha recipe as also proposed by Lorena in her presentation.

  • For this version, we used an homemade beer I produced one year ago with my father, wich was not so good compared to other sessions, and wich is out of date for now for a drinking use. Our goal at this time was to produce a white beer with a black color (specific dark wheat), but the taste was not really here.

  • My father started to study and to craft beers on his own about 2 years ago in Normandy, and he is producing about 4 to 5 sessions of 23 liters per year. I see that like an opportunity to re-use the failed production and maybe to develop some products related to beers lifecycle, like compostable packaging. Crafting beers is also producing a lot of cereal wastes, called drèche in French and BSG in the scientific articles (Brewers' Spent Grains).

It is sometimes transformed in crakling appetizers at micro-breweries. But the quantity of BSG there, around 5kg for 23L of beer, is unproportionnal to the relevant quantitities of crackers for 1 beer production. So it could be a good exploration to combine a bio-plastic made with beer and some BSG inclusions. Or to develop an other recycling process with BSG + other natural wastes.

Some researchs of applications of biomaterials in Fashion & Product Design
  • I chose to develop this subject for my long project, proposed during week 13.