Containers Complete

Despite my initial pessimism, the molds came out great. As expected they do not look or feel like regular food containers but they are rigid, thin and clean. I had some real trouble getting the smaller container off the mold and they needed some trimming but overall they were very successful. The resulting texture is a warm, intricate patterning of fibers that is interesting bordering on beautiful but I don't think people would eat off it. My next steps will be to explore how to implant seeds and if plantable packaging is a viable idea.

Container Molding

After seeing some companies that are successfully, profitably turning sugar cane bagasse into disposable tableware and food-containers I decided to expand my experimenting to include food containers. After separating and sifting the bagasse into four different consistencies I made two sample molds by pouring plaster into existing plastic and metal food containers. I mixed the finer portions of the bagasse with wood glue (the most reliable, dissolvable adhesive I've tested) and pressed the mixture over the mold evenly. I then covered each of the molds with a thin negative mold and vacuum-bagged them to provide strong, even clamping pressure as the glue sets. As I had a very difficult time applying the mixture evenly and thinly I am skeptical that the result will look or feel like the containers I am trying to mimic but I will see when they come out tomorrow.

New Direction

I have begun exploring the potential to use our materials to make biodegradable, compost-able packaging and shipping inserts. I hope to eventually imbed seeds into these inserts to create plantable packaging. This may be my final concept but the idea needs more testing and exploration.

Molding Research

I've been doing some research on the potential to reinforce molding plastic with the natural fibers we have been working with. Turns out, that there are already a few companies developing and producing these plastics with promising results. The most developed product is NCell made by GreenCore and their research shows that it exceeds the strength of glass reinforced plastic (some of the hardest molding plastic available). I've posted the links to the sites below.

http://greencorenfc.com/products.htm
http://www.distrupol.com/images/Processing%20guidelines%20-%20TRANSMARE%20bamboo%20reinforced%20polymers.pdf
http://books.google.com/books?id=QdjzOCnrED0C&pg=PA310&lpg=PA310&dq=bamboo+used+in+injection+molding&source=bl&ots=Gaa60TEzI7&sig=mQ9CDDuJVl9WZY0CGZ5GppGE8EE&hl=en&ei=ePKcTdHYFseB0QGB7KTjAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CGcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=bamboo%20used%20in%20injection%20molding&f=false

Costa Rica - Part 4

Today we traveled with some of the students at Earth University to one of the poorest communities in Costa Rica. It is a small community outside Liberia built almost entirely from materials sourced from a local dump. The people of the community are 80% Nicaraguan and have no legal entitlement to the land on which they live. Without any entitlement to the land there is little reason to improve living standards or housing and as a result there is limited access to potable water and electricity. The students of Earth are required to take a semester's class in "community engagement" where they go out into poor, rural communities to share their knowledge of agriculture and help establish community gardens. It is the goal of Earth University to keep students in touch with their surrounding communities while helping improve life within them. We set to work helping with any and everything from planting seeds to irrigating lettuce planters. At one point we helped to construct hanging tomato planters out of denim pant legs stuffed with shredded plastic bottles and manure (pictured right). Our morning's work in the community also gave us some exposure to the low-income building culture that exists in central america. It seems critical for us to understand this culture is we intend on creating low-cost building materials in the area, as some people have purposed. Having never been in such a poor community this was an eye opening experience, one which has raised other questions in my mind concerning social entrepreneurship and what positive impact I can have as a designer on such poor communities outside of this studio.

Costa Rica - Part 3

After working with the students of Earth as a part of Earth's annual celebration we met with them to discuss our work and get feedback. Initially stunted by language barriers the conversation about our materials quickly took off until the whole room was buzzing with talk. As materials got passed around and comments translated into spanish then english and back again there was a palpable energy in the room. We were excited to see other students engaged in the material studies we had been doing and they were excited to see the organic material they study transformed in such vast and varied ways. The impromptu discussion of our work with the students of Earth was exciting in that we gained more perspectives on potential uses for our samples from students of agriculture. But beyond the feedback it was energizing to see other students inspired by our work and it has brought a new level of energy and commitment to our studio. I look forward to fostering the connects we made with the students at Earth and potentially collaborating on future projects.

Costa Rica - Part 2

By complete chance our visit to Earth University happened to coincide with Earth's annual day of celebration and engagement in the community. After a small ceremony (conducted completely in spanish) where a tree was planted and pictures taken, we were divided into teams and introduced to some of the students studying at Earth's La Flor campus. My group of 7 traveled with the director (Carlos) out into the thick bush that surrounds the Campus and began blazing a trail with machetes and sticks. The other groups traveled either to a local school to help repaint its interior or to a local river to help clean up trash. Despite the 100 degree heat in corduroy pants and the constant danger of being bite by one of numerous, venomous snakes and spiders the day was a huge success that gave us a chance to work alongside other students and see more of Earth's campus than we ever expected.

Costa Rica - Part 1

After arriving in San Jose on Saturday, we traveled Earth University's campus in La Flor via bus, toured the campus and turned in. The next morning we met with Carlos Murillo, the director of Earth University, to exchange information and ideas. Carlos began with a presentation introducing us to Earth, its history, ideals and goals for the future. Carlos proved to be as intelligent and articulate as he was hopeful for the future of his university and country. His overflowing optimism and pragmatism was strikingly similar to Barack Obama's early campaign speeches and I found them equally inspiring. After the presentation we took turns presenting our materials and research to Carlos, explaining how we had made our samples and what utility we saw in our discoveries. One-on-one discussions ensued about our samples, their pros, cons and potential integration into Earth's existing agricultural systems. Carlos gave of our projects a great amount of attention and insight requesting that we update him on our progress through out the semester. The morning's presentation and comments were both insightful and inspiring, and have reaffirmed our semester's goals.

Sugar Cane Laminations

I did some micro-laminations with the sugar cane scrap following the same process as with the rice straw. I'm calling them micro-laminations but the larger of the two was bigger than my hand. The larger lamination became increasingly rigid as it dried and by yesterday it had become nearly solid. The scale of the sugar cane scrap is much closer to the size of oriented strand board and it seems to be much more promising as a prospect in manufacturing.

Composite Attempts

While pacing my kitchen wondering how I could make identical two-part molds to compress different composite combinations I saw a muffin tin...A more perfect composite testing tray has never been created. Two identical tins form a perfect two-part mold that provides uniform compression, a slight draft makes release easy and the non-stick surface ensures no material or adhesive sticks to the tray.

The six combinations pictured hanging below were: (left to right)

1. Thin Begasse & Wood Glue dyed with indigo

2. Rice Hull & Wood Glue

3. Begasse & Wheat Paste (flour,sugar,water)

4. Thin Rice Straw & Rice-based Glue

5. Begasse & Wood Glue

6. Rice Straw & Wheat Paste (flour,sugar,water)

The thin begasse compressed with wood glue was by far the biggest success in creating a rigidity although all the samples dried to a solid state. When I attempted to dye the begasse & wood glue sample with a water based indigo substitute the dyed portion of the sample lost all rigidity within a minute and nearly fell off. Although this might be perceived as a negative attribute, there may be a niche market for a rigid natural composite which dissolves in water almost instantaneously...

Once completely dry, the larger sample that I made became completely rigid and was able to hold the weight of several heavy books while spanning two desks (pictured above). The sample hardly deflected and I believe that it could have upheld much more weight.

Composites

Further investigation of our given materials by myself and my classmates has outlined one clear path to structure: composites.

Composites n. - engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or microscopic scale within the finished structure.

Typically these "two (or more) materials" bring together different types of structure or adhesive to create a single, stronger material. Common examples of composites are concrete, fiberboard and carbon fiber. All of these materials combine a material of compression or tensile strength with a bonding agent which gives the whole composite the strength of the individual units being bonded. In the use of concrete the compression strength of individual rocks combine to create a solid road. Coincidentally there is another advanced studio within our department exploring the possibilities of natural fiber composites. The "Composite Studio" will be using bast fibers (mostly jute) in mat form which have been impregnated with a thermo-sensative bonding agent or needle-punched with a polypropylene mat that acts to bind the fibers in a heated press. The materials used in the composite class have been fully developed and the class is focused on reshaping and repurposing those developed materials. Our class is focused on the development of raw fibers into a 'repurposable', marketable material for industry or craft. Communication between our classes has been mutually beneficial and crossover with equipment, processes and purpose will be useful as we continue working.

Our Materials

The four materials we will be experimenting with and repurposing are: (from top to bottom)

Bagasse (Pulp from Sugar Cane)

Sugar Cane Scraps

Rice Straw

Rice Hull

Although all these materials are byproducts of Poaceae or grain plants, the structure, texture and behavior of these materials are all very different. Like all materials, these byproducts come with strengths and weaknesses that we will have to understand and consider in our constructions.

"All materials have their own qualities and qualifications. Each kind has laws of its own which demand considerate treatment at he artist's hand. You cannot expect to produce good works if you treat your materials without reference to their nature."

John Howard Benson

Creator of the RISD Seal

Micro-Laminations

During a discussion with my professor about the tensile strength of the ricestrawshe picked up one of the thicker strands and flattened it with a weight against my desk. The straw flattened to a ribbon and she picked it up and asked "Now, what could you do with that?" The lustrous quality of the straw reminded me of wood veneer and I wondered if straw could be laminated like veneer to give it structure. I made two tiny curvilinear jigs as if I was laminating wood veneer with apositiveand negative shape and opposing struts for alignment. I quickly layered seven ribbons of straw with wood glue, slid them into the jig on top of each other and clamped it tight. When I released the jig I found that the straw had adhered to itself and thus hadadopted the jig's curves. Although the structure wasspringyrather than solid, like the wooden laminations I am accustomed to handling, it was still promising to see raw, brittle straw take on structure and form with the addition of an adhesive and simple mechanical pressure. I did another test with a glued 'jumble' of straw on a wider jig and it was equally successful in retaining its shape and structural strength. This second test seemed more promising because it was less time consuming and would be easier to incorporate in a manufacturing processes. Although manufacturing still seems far off this is a promising first step towards structure.

An amazing use of natural composites to create structure. The article below states that the chair is composed of 100% natural hemp fibers pressed under specific heat with an "ecological glue" as a binder. Milan's design week 2012 here we come.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/13610/werner-aisslinger-hemp-chair.html