7. BioFabricating Materials¶

References & Inspiration¶

The Forssa School of Fine Arts and the Forssa Higher Secondary School participated in the exhibition of the Center for Bio-Innovation at Aalto University on the occasion of the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. Their exhibition ‘Designs for the Material Future’ at Dutch Design Week 2025 was refreshing! This exhibition brings together diverse generations, ideas, and research-based solutions, united in the pursuit of a more sustainable and creative material future, with an educational focus that highlights the research and learning from Bioinnovation Center and CHEMARTS.

Curators: Anna van der Lei, Greta Isola, and Susanna Ahola.

Exhibition design: Marvelous Materials Display: Cyrienne Buffet and Jack Kirk Bioinnovation Center and CHEMARTS: Baldur Haraldsson

The exhibition’s miniature house’s interior, decorated with bio-based materials, was crafted by Finnish kids from Espoon kuvataidekoulu, Forssan kuvataidekoulu, and Forssan yhteislyseo.

Images: Greta Isola for Forssa Higher Secondary School & Forssa Higher Secondary School

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It is this installation that made me want to draw the recipes as a visual guide. Next steps, test lots of blends and bio-materials!

Making plastic bio with geltine¶

Drawing: Annabel Fournier

Basic bioresin Recipe

80 ml water 16g gelatin powder 0g to 2,5 g Glyrenin* + essential oils of anti-fungal and antibacterial (Tea Tree, Mint, lavander, Cosgard...)

Prepare ingredients
Pour ingredients in a saucepan all ingredients at 60 C° until smooth for 20 mins, until it's like a syrup. Gently mix, to avoid bubbles. You can skim the foam before using the mixture.

Add at the end, without cooking it, essential oils of anti-fungal and antibacterial.

Pour the gelatin into a plastic-covered mold, or silicone mold. You can mix or sprinkle your additional ingredients.
Let dry* for at least 1 day to remove the biomaterials and let dry for several days to use it. Do not warm up, use a fan instead.
Without glycerin, you get a hard bio plastic, the more you add Glycerin, the softer the material is and the more it resamples to a bio silicone.


Glycerol, or glycerin, is a colorless, viscous, and odorless liquid with a sweet taste, used in many pharmaceutical compositions.	Find gelatin powder in small quantities and expensive in the dessert section of the supermarket, or in a drugstore or Arab grocery for affordable prices.	Before making your mix,prepare molds cover of plastic…
or silicone molds… with golden sheet	Mix gently.	At the end of cooking, add 2/3 drops of anti-bacterial essential oils.
Decoration with charcoal and a wood stick	The mix of 1/3 charcoal has been made separatly.
Mix with 1/10 of ground cafe, plastic bulle to make a nicerelief texture.

Result 1¶

Recipe with 0.5g of Glycerin to obtain a slightly flexible plastic. Drying for 3 days. The gold leaves have oxidized, the powdered ground coffee gives this mottled look.

Recipe

80 ml water 16g gelatin powder 0,5 g Glyrenin* Golden sheet and ground coffee powdered

Error and find¶

Eager to speed up the drying process, I put my first set in the dehydrator. Catastrophe, everything has melted! The black resin mixed with coal melted into the felt. The result is interesting; it remains either flat or supple. I think I can use it in my research because the rendering is beautiful and easy to shape.


In this example, the gelatin has almost completely melted but there is enough left to create a weft.	This mixture of 1/3 of activated carbon melted and embedded in the felt	The result is flat and also flexible

Thoses tests have been made with 40% activated carbon, to create conductive supports. The mixture makes the resin friable, the coal does not dissolve. Despite the heating error, I've tested for their conductivity and it's conductive but very resistant.

Result 2¶

After drying, the felt and resin are hard. Interresting…

Making Alginate plastic, heat resistant¶

Drawing: Annabel Fournier

Basic bioresin Recipe

200 ml water 16g Glycerin 6g Sodium alginate (use a pipette)

Water + Calcium chloride 10%

Weigh the ingredients accurately, use a pipette or syringe for small quantities, and/or a precision scale.
Mix to obtain a soft dough for about 1/2 minutes with a mini blender
Let 8 hours rest for the bubbles to escape.
Prepare a mix of water and Calcium chloride 10%.
A form: spray this mix (Water + Calcium chloride 10%) on the shape, the surface solidifies. The shape will gradually harden over time.
A thread: Put some mixture (Water + Calcium chloride 10%) in a bowl. With a pipette, a piping bag... pour the preparation by making flexible and concentric gestures. Never put the pipette in contact with the water of the bowl, otherwise the hole immediately clogs. The thread can bo knit or crochet…


Weigh the ingredients accurately, use a pipette or syringe for small quantities, and/or a precision scale.	Mix to obtain a soft dough for about 1/2 minutes with a mini blender.	Mixing with pieces of textiles, the outside is solidified by spraying 10% sodium alginate. The center will dry gradually.

Result¶

Mixture of textiles disqualified with: - on the left a mixture with 30% alinate, the pavement remains supple and the textile is clearly visible. - on the right, mixture with 50% plaster, the pavement remains flat and hard. It would be necessary to test with less plaster to better value the textile.

Discover the mycelium¶

Drawing: Annabel Fournier

Mycelium recipe

80% Substract (Rabbit litter) 20% Mycelium

Prepare the substract by sterilizing it with steam (1 hour) or in the microwave 2 times 4 minutes. Dry it in the dehydrator/oven at 100 C°
Disinfect and clean your entire work environment with alcohol or ethanol, use gloves and a mask to avoid splashing on the mycelium.
Create a sterile bubble by putting 3 lit butagas and making a flask of alcohol on the table.
Mix the substrate and mycellium in a large bowl.
Place the mixture in a disinfected mold, compact by hand.
Wrap the mold with plastic film. Leave 2/4 days in a place at 30 C°.
Remove the plastic film and put the blocks back in the hot zone at about 25C° until the desired volume is obtained.
When the appearance suits you, it is necessary to stop the progression by killing the mycellium in the oven or dehydrator at 100 C°.


Cleaning by Claire of the table and all utensils with alcohol.	Stéphanie disposes 3 butagaz and lights them, pours alcohol in the center of the table.	The moulds are disinfected, assembled and closed with plastic film.
Mixture of 20% mycelium and 80% substrate prepared in step 1	Packaging of molds with plastic film.	Put the packaged mussels in a warm place 30 C° about 2/3 days, until the mycelium develops on the substrate. Take out the plastic and let the mycelium develop to the desired volume in the heater. Kill it in the oven or dehydrator.

Result¶

Progression of the mycelium in progress, Demolding after 4 days, put back in a space around 25 C° for a few more days. On the left, a mixture with 50% mycelum, on the right 20% mycelium.

Use bier spent grain¶

Drawing: Annabel Fournier

MBier sprent grain

80% Substract (Rabbit litter) 20% Mycelium

Grind the spent grains in a blender, bi.
Spray water on a sulfurized sheet.
Pour the ground grain and spray water on the mixture to moisten it, mix by hand.
spray water on the mixture to moisten it, mix by hand.


Cleaning by Claire of the table and all utensils with alcohol.	Stéphanie disposes 3 butagaz and lights them, pours alcohol in the center of the table.	The moulds are disinfected, assembled and closed with plastic film.	Mixture of 20% mycelium and 80% substrate prepared in step 1

Result¶

Beautiful rendering, to be tried with a binder to harden the mixture.

Result¶

Here you can see to the left of the textile mixed with soduim alinate (recipe above), the pad remains supple. On the right, and the same textile mixed at 50% with plaster. It remains flat. Now study with several doses of plaster to better see the textile.

Making paper with nettles¶

Drawing: Annabel Fournier

Paper nettles recipe

Harvest large nettle stalks and remove the leaves on site.
Cut the stems into pieces, boil in water and spoon tablespoon of calcium chloride for at least 30 minutes. The pH of water must be between 10 and 12.
Remove the stems from the water, put them in the blender (or the Hollander blender if your stems are young) and in 30 seconds, the green detaches from the stem.
Separate the stem from its "green skin". Throw away the stem.
Use this pulp on a support of your choice, leave to dry.


The pH of water must be between 10 and 12.	Boiling sticks in boiling water with 1 Tablespoon of Calcium chloride.	"Skin" of nettles to keep.
Stems to throw away.	Place the fibers on the surface, press and dry.

Result¶

The result is very beautiful, smooth on the inside, grainy on the outside.

Fur...¶

Little walk to find cat tails, 1 alone in the middle of the pond, it won’t be for this time!

Images and drawings: Annabel Fournier unless otherwise stated