Innovative & Sustainable Materials

Luca Alessandrini :Spider Silk Violin The composite material of silk fibres and a binding agent can be mixed to customise different sounds and theoretically could be used to improve or vary the acoustic properties of any number of instruments. Alessandrini developed his material in conjunction with the Associazione Nazionale Liutai Artistici Italiani.

Nikolaj Steenfatt Sand Moulded Furniture.

Studio Nienke Hoogvliet Seaweed Yarn Naturally Dyed Swatches The process and research is documented in a book called SEAWEED RESEARCH

Studio Nienke Hoogvliet Chair from the Sea Me Collection The seating of the chair is made of seaweed yarn and dyed naturally with seaweed With funding from the Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie

This year's New Material Award prize goes to Olivier van Herpt, who designed and built a 3D printer that can deposit layers of undiluted clay with fine detail. newmaterialaward.nl

Coconut Composite Board Visiting professors Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong and Devan Simumovich initially thought they would be spending time during their stay in Bangkok getting a coconut ice cream business off the ground. But after seeing the massive amounts of plant waste generated by curries and coconut water, they hit on the idea of creating composite boards out of the organic material, plywood-like pieces they would would emboss with laser-cut steel templates. "It’s a lowbrow material here,"says Wong. "Nobody is interested in having cocoboard in their home. But, if we can create a way for people who throw out coconuts in Bangkok to instead drop them off in a recycle center, [maybe we can] create a micro economy for waste coconuts."

Mathieu Lehanneur "Liquid Marble" The 7.5-metre-long patch has been created from a single section of hand-polished green marble, and was designed using 3D software.The material has been carved into realistic waves that replicate water that has been "gently ruffled" by the wind. The piece reflects on the hidden presence of the Loire river, which flows beneath the courtyard of the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire Centre D'Arts et de Nature, where the installation is presented.

BAUX Acoustic Panels - An environment-friendly, recyclable material made from wood wool, cement and water. The natural components together provide many functional characteristics. BAUX Acoustic Panels is available in 5 patterns; Quilted, Check, Stripes, Lines and Diagonal, all designed to be combined into infinity.

Air Ink by Graviky Labs ​The first ink made out of recycled air pollution. " Over the last 150 years, mankind has depended on burning fossil fuels directly or indirectly for their energy needs. Soot is the major byproduct of the burning of fossil fuels. Research has shown that many premature deaths are directly related to soot in the environment. Particle exposure leads to around 20,000 premature deaths in America each year. Many of these deaths were caused by soot-related diseases. Data also shows that soot annually causes almost 300,000 asthma attacks and 2 million lost workdays due to respiratory problems."

Suntan Pattern by Nendo Nendo exploits leather's characteristics by using tanning oil or sunscreen to place an invisible pattern on the surface of the leather.

ARUP's SolarLeaf – bioreactor façade The SolarLeaf façade was installed for the first time on the BIQ house for the International Building Exhibition (IBA) 2013. -First façade system in the world to cultivate micro-algae to generate heat and biomass as renewable energy sources. -Structural glass photobioreactors used as external cladding elements and dynamic shading devices. -Fully integrated in the house´s building services system to harvest, distribute, store and use the solar thermal heat on site.

Studio Formafantasma X Drog Designs: Reality Tank In 2011, Studio Formafantasma had presented Botanica, a collection of vessels displaying their fascination with the possibilities of pre-industrial plastics. This research has been expanded in collaboration with Dutch Polymer Institute and Food & Biobased Research Wageningen University. Two materials have been researched: shellac (a polymer produced by a lac bug that colonize trees) and bois durci (a 19th century material composed of wood dust and animal blood or egg albumen). In order to understand their possible contemporary applications and to develop future scenarios, the challenge was to combine these composite materials with new methods of production. In collaboration with 3D-printing specialist, Studio Under, the shellac has been mixed with a biological component and a simple 3D-printer has been modified and customized, enabling objects from shellac to be 3D-printed. This proofs that this kind of polymers can be adapted for use in contemporary technology.

Jonas Edvard’s MYX lamp is made from plant fiber and fungus grown over the course of two to three weeks.

To create the MYX lamp, Edvard grows the mushrooms for about two to three weeks.

Berlin-based product designers Anastasiya Koshcheeva and Oya-Meryem Yanik teamed up on a project that is a study in materials. Chester is a new, innovative material that looks at molded wood in a completely new way. After much research, they created a new surface material that’s held together with seams, and not the typical glue, giving the wood a quilted look.

Bioleather: This leather substitute is made by feeding bacteria a sugary solution.

Kathrine Grøner Errboe's Nike inspired shoe made from wood shavings collected from local carpentry workshops. For seven weeks, NIKE and students from Sustainable Fashion and Material Design Lab at KEA worked together to develop sustainable clothing, accessories and shoes for the NIKE customers of the future. The students have developed new sustainable materials and worked on recycling and upcycling of waste and discarded products to innovate sports and leisure clothing.

LIQUIDICE is one of the latest innovations from ICA Group. It is a monocomponent coating that creates an aesthetic effect similar to ice crystals.