There is much information about colors, textures and moods when we refer to any Interior Design Trend but rarely technology gets mentioned. It feels like nobody is really confortable with it, but truth is innovation is all around us and used in most of the design processes already.
As always, nature continues to inspire and influence. Now we gain a deeper and more complex understanding of our planet and are better able to adapt and innovate.
Designers incorporate sophisticated imitations
of natural materials into their projects to reconnect us with nature. Products take on a more natural appearance creating a visual link to the luxury of raw materials.
Humans are clever, but without intending to, we have created massive sustainability problems for future generations. Fortunately, solutions to these global challenges are all around us.
The core idea is that nature has already solved many of the problems we are facing today. Animals, plants, and microbes are true engineers.
It may seem paradoxical that a lounge chair entirely made in nylon (can be made from crude oil or biomass: Biomass can be used as a source of energy and it most often refers to plants or plant-based materials) is more natural and sustainable than any soft seat made by more traditional manufacturing methods.
This soft seat, which is Lilian van Daal‘s graduation project, uses 3D printing technology to replicate the way nature gives different properties to different objects by simply modifying their structure.
This is the goal of Biomimicry that is the technique of using algorithms to replicate natural processes and translate them into physical shapes in a way that has been made possible by additive manufacturing technologies. Through Biomimicry we will be able to create artificial objects that better resemble nature and, since we are also part of nature, are a better fit for us humans as well.
Using the Biomimicy inspired structure a soft chair can be made from a single material in a single process in a single factory: this mean a lot less waste!
“3D printing makes it possible to reproduce these complex structures as a single object. A product can be created from one material in one factory, although it has the properties of various materials. Pollution caused by transport can be minimized and the product is completely recyclable.” – Lilian van Daal