TY - JOUR
T1 - Fabricating materials from living organisms
T2 - An emerging design practice
AU - Camere, Serena
AU - Karana, Elvin
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Biotechnology offers exciting opportunities for novel and more sustainable alternatives for the design and manufacturing of products. One of the most promising approaches is the fabrication of materials from living organisms, such as fungi and bacteria. An increasing number of designers are engaging in this Growing Design practice, exploring the unique potentials of the grown materials for product design. In Growing Design, designers operate in interdisciplinary contexts, engaging in early stage material developments. Despite the widespread interest towards Growing Design, no systematic study has been conducted so far to understand how this practice unfolds and its contribution to the progression towards cleaner production. To this end, eight recognized professionals in the field were interviewed. The results illustrate how the conception of materials in design evolves when designers co-perform with biological organisms. This alters how the design process unfolds and the mindset adopted in design practice, shaping a novel, systemic vision on production and consumption practices. The paper further discusses the need for developing new sensibilities to face complex interdisciplinary problems in Growing Design and highlights the role designers can take in developing new materials for sustainable production.
AB - Biotechnology offers exciting opportunities for novel and more sustainable alternatives for the design and manufacturing of products. One of the most promising approaches is the fabrication of materials from living organisms, such as fungi and bacteria. An increasing number of designers are engaging in this Growing Design practice, exploring the unique potentials of the grown materials for product design. In Growing Design, designers operate in interdisciplinary contexts, engaging in early stage material developments. Despite the widespread interest towards Growing Design, no systematic study has been conducted so far to understand how this practice unfolds and its contribution to the progression towards cleaner production. To this end, eight recognized professionals in the field were interviewed. The results illustrate how the conception of materials in design evolves when designers co-perform with biological organisms. This alters how the design process unfolds and the mindset adopted in design practice, shaping a novel, systemic vision on production and consumption practices. The paper further discusses the need for developing new sensibilities to face complex interdisciplinary problems in Growing Design and highlights the role designers can take in developing new materials for sustainable production.
KW - Algae
KW - Bacteria
KW - Biotechnology
KW - Design for sustainability
KW - Materials experience
KW - Mycelium
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046017869&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.081
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.081
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046017869
SN - 0959-6526
VL - 186
SP - 570
EP - 584
JO - Journal of Cleaner Production
JF - Journal of Cleaner Production
ER -