Crafting Materials During COVID-19: The Locked-Down Material Lab

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30682/diid7722l

Keywords:

Material Design, DIY-Materials, Material experiences, Covid-19

Abstract

Lately, designers have become deeply interested in the materials generation process. With an approach of transforming unconventional elements into possible materials, they discover many possibilities with new characteristics ready to explore. This article discusses a study proposing concepts of materials generation, focusing on self-production in a pandemic context of domestic isolation and resource limitations. It follows the Do-It-Yourself Materials approach to create homemade samples (organic waste-based) and the experience-based method called Material Driven Design (to search for new insights in the material samples) as a framework. The research presents some tools to measure and understand possible new materials. It evaluates the materials experience generated in users when using unconventional sources for their creation and shares some information to get a more straightforward path when choosing to work with an experimental approach to developing alternative materials.

Author Biographies

Valentina Rognoli, Politecnico di Milano

She is Associate Professor in the Design Department at the Politecnico di Milano. She has been a pioneer in the field of Materials for Design. Her research and teaching activities focus on Materials for Ecological transition; DIY-Materials; Bio-based and fabricated Materials; Materials from Waste; Materials for interactions and IoT (ICS Materials); Speculative Materials; Tinkering with materials, Materials Driven Design method, CMF design, emerging Materials Experiences, and material education in the field of Design. She is one of the founders of Materials Experience Lab (2015).

Sofia Soledad Duarte Poblete, Politecnico di Milano

Ph.D. student in Design at the Politecnico di Milano, Department of Design. Her research interest is focused on materials design for transitions, including DIY-Materials and bio-based materials. She explores green practices for companies to collaborate in the transition to sustainability. 

Patrizia Bolzan, Politecnico di Milano

Ph.D. and Researcher in Design, she investigates the ratio between digital fabrication — mainly additive manufacturing technologies — and Design in practices and processes. She deals with circularity in product system design, DIY materials, and technological integration in prototypes. Since 2015 she is on the permanent staff of Polifactory.

Stefano Parisi, Politecnico di Milano

He is a Postdoc at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, TU Delft. Stefano researches and teaches in the area of Materials Experience, focusing on innovative and emerging materials and processes, including smart and bio-based materials for product and wearable applications. He explores design, knowledge transfer, and training methodologies, emphasising material experiences, sustainability, and future scenarios.

Additional Files

Published

2022-09-30

How to Cite

Rognoli, V., Duarte Poblete, S. S., Bolzan, P., & Parisi, S. (2022). Crafting Materials During COVID-19: The Locked-Down Material Lab. Diid — Disegno Industriale Industrial Design, (77), 12. https://doi.org/10.30682/diid7722l

Issue

No. 77 (2022): diid disegno industriale industrial design

Section

Designrama

License

Copyright (c) 2022 diid — disegno industriale industrial design

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.