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![source unknown](./images/wk0_loes1.jpg)*Woman doing eye exercise, photographer unknown, 1937, source: [Spaarnestad Foto](https://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/nl/geheugen/view?coll=ngvn&identifier=SFA03%3ASFA022006503))*
# Loes' Fabricademy Journey
# Loes' Fabricademy Documentation
Hi! I am Loes Bogers. This my documentation blog/notebook for the Fabricademy Course of 2019-2020. I participated from Amsterdam with the TextileLab at Waag as my local lab. Below you can find the links to the documentation of all the assignments: each week we explored another context of textiles and fashion fabrication and technology. My final project was dedicated to developing archiving and documentation tools for biofabricating new natural materials in critical and open-source ways.
This my documentation blog/notebook for the Fabricademy Course of 2019. I'm participating from Amsterdam with Fab Lab Waag as my local lab.
##Assignments
## About me
Hi! I am Loes Bogers (not me in the pic though).
I live in Rotterdam, but I'm from lovely Southern city Eindhoven, and I work in Amsterdam. My work home is the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences where I work as a researcher at the Visual Methodologies Collective, and coordinator and educator of a semester course on (critical) making and digital fabrication.
I’m currently working on a book project with Letizia Chiappini and Geert Lovink called the *Critical Maker’s Reader: (Un)Learning Technology*. It's an edited volume that addresses questions around contemporary critical making. What might making become after the recent death knell of MAKE magazine, its maker faires and the maker movement they envisioned? What was making before? What could it become? The reader will come out as a printed book and open access ePub, and will be published by the Institute of Network Cultures in November 2019. I work with students on related practices and topics in the interdisciplinary semester course [*Makers Lab: Making as Research*](https://makerslab.hotglue.me/start) that I developed with Shirley Niemans.
### Back in 2015...
I know Shirley back from when I did the Fabacademy in 2015. It put a lot of nice projects in motion for us and led to a great friendship! My final project was a toy for wunderkammers, that I loved making and am still proud of because of all the work and learning that went into it. I also feel quite ambivalent about it now, because it was such a self-indulgent thing to create in a way. At the same time the skills I learned were invaluable, and the process has shaped my thinking on the meaning of making and the kind of knowledge created by developing intimate knowledge of tools, materials and general craftsmanship.
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/155540856?color=00d554&byline=0&portrait=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
*Video of my final project from Fabacademy, Loes Bogers, 2015*
## Why fabricademy?
This year, I'm able to join the Fabricademy with the generous support of my university. This program directly ties in with some current developments: there's recently been a great interest in practices that could be called critical making, and we're looking to expand our research and education more specifically toward critical making in the context of the fashion industry. What would be a better place to get started than here? This truly is a bucket list moment for me <3.
PLus, it's kind of all the things I love combined! I enjoy learning and a bit of a challenge, and the things I could practice here will be a starting point for a personal project I have in mind in collaboration with a terrific community of innovative performers. I'm looking into a collaboration with local drag performers.
##Some related previous work
I have a BA in Media and Cultural Studies from the University of Amsterdam and a MA in Interactive Media: Critical Theory & Practice from Goldsmiths, London. I'm definitely a bit of a hybrid practitioner and a large part of me is bookish and researchy, but I very much enjoy this combination. I know about areas of (digital) media, electronics, some coding, and digital fabrication. Although I've sewn my own clothes I don't have much fashion in my background besides a 32-year for vintage clothes and dressing up unapologetically whether there's an occasion or not. The projects I have done tend to deal with gender, embodiment, data and often some kind of politics. Here's a few:
### Movement-moving machines
This is a project where I looked into dance systems and dynamics of music, migration, spaces and touch. For one experiment I hacked two pair of tap dancing shoes to make a sound system that can be turned on and off as people touch or let go. The very start of my love affair with electronics!
![image by Loes Bogers](https://i1.wp.com/www.loesbogers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/tap-shoes11.jpg?w=640)
*image by Loes Bogers, 2010*
### Dancecoding
During a residency at Kitchen Budapest, I did this dancecoding project with local contact improvisation dancers and the developers of Fluxus: a livecoding language used for performative programming. We did a week of dancecoding jams to explore formats, techniques and modes of collaboration during arts exhibition SZOB|A|R|T.
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/30134095?portrait=0" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>
*video documentation of dancecoding project, Loes Bogers, 2011*
### The Body Recovery Unit
I founded the Body Recovery Unit with Alexandra Joensson. BRU is an arts-based feminist research group that works with healthcare practitioners, activists and community groups in London to look at the ways in which logics and demands of data-driven health care reform impact the body, everyday practices and relationships on UK maternity wards. More info [here](https://thebodyrecoveryunit.wordpress.com/)
### Subversive Methods-Time-Measurement Party Outfit
Earlier this year I joined [Hackers & Designers](https://hackersanddesigners.nl/s/Summer_Academy_2019): an initiative that attempts to break down the barriers between the two fields by enforcing a common vocabulary through education, hacks and collaboration. One of the first projects I worked on with them was the Hackers & Designers Summer Academy on the theme of *Coded Bodies* where we did loads of experiments with different technologies and how they relate to our understanding and experience of the body.
![images by Philippe Ullman](http://www.loesbogers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/loes.gif)
One of the things I really enjoyed working on was this party outfit I made with Anja Groten & Julliette Lizotte during Erik Overmeire's 2-day workshop on wearables. It was inspired by Kajsa Dahlberg's fantastic film [*Reach, Grasp, Move, Position, Apply Force*](http://kajsadahlberg.com/work/reach-grasp-move-position-apply-force/) (2014-2015), about the bodily regimes and Methods-Time-Measurement systems in the context of Amazon fulfilment centers. Highly recommended.
## Inspiration
### Fabricademy graduates
![](https://gitlab.fabcloud.org/academany/fabricademy/2019/students/jessica.stanley/raw/master/docs/images/finalproject/stitchsyth2.gif)*Jessica Stanley's Stitch Synth project, 2019*
**Jessica Stanley's Stitch Synth**
I saw [Jessica's work](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/jessica.stanley/projects/00final-project/) at the last Fabricademy expo in Amsterdam. Super nicely done.
||||
|---|---|---|
|[![](./images/wk1_markdown-copy.jpg)Project management](./assignments/week01) |[![](./images/wk02_body.jpg)Digital bodies](./assignments/week02)|[![](./images/wk3final1.jpg) Circular fashion](./assignments/week03)|
|[![](./images/wk04_bacteriasilk2_crop.jpg) Biochromes ](./assignments/week04)|[![](./images/wk05_helperLED.jpg) E-textiles & Wearables I ](./assignments/week05)|[![](./images/wk06_thumb.jpg) Biofabricating ](./assignments/week06)|
|[![](./images/wk07girlsdrilling.jpg)Open-source hardware ](./assignments/week07)|[![](./images/wk08_printtest1.jpg) Computational couture ](./assignments/week08)|[![](./images/wk09_roughsnowballs.jpg) Textile as scaffold](./assignments/week09)|
|[![](./images/wk10_speaker_schematic_attiny.jpg) E-textiles & wearables II ](./assignments/week10)|[![](./images/wk12_secondcast.jpg) Soft robotics ](./assignments/week12)|[![](./images/wk13wear5.jpg) Skin electronics](./assignments/week13)|
I also really liked her experiments with tesselation in the Textile as Scaffold week. The slow movements the textile creates are really nice to watch.
And in [week 11](./assignments/week11) I proposed my final project.
And also her voronoi for [computational couture](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/jessica.stanley/assignments/week07/) are so cool. She printed these shapes on stretchy fabric, making the textile pull itself into a 3D shape.
##Final Project: Archiving New Naturals
And the pleat switch and this sensor below. OMG Jessica stop it nowwww I'm totally fangirling your fabricademy page. This makes me think I will really enjoy the electronics work in the next few months.
**Towards a context-aware global material commons: what's in your local archive?**
![](https://media.giphy.com/media/5k0rrSdjXmmQ68mABP/giphy.gif)*Jessica Stanley, 2019*
The goal of this project was to explore and develop simple methods for open archiving of socalled "new naturals". The outcomes are:
**Teresa van Twuijver's analog soft sensor**
[Teresa](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/teresa.vantwuijver/assignments/week05/) made this nice soft sensor using smock embroidery. I'd seen a similar thing on kobakant once, wow it's soooooo nice.
1. Tools and templates for documenting new natural materials, to help material crafters and designers to ask new questions when developing recipes and combining materials;
2. A curated recipe collection for the Dutch context, that offer a comprehensive starting point for exploring "new naturals" in e.g. (informal) learning contexts;
3. Suggested features for online archiving that is open-source, collaborative, showing awareness of technical, sensorial as well as nuanced ecological, cultural, historical and geopolitical aspects of materials.
![](https://gitlab.fabcloud.org/academany/fabricademy/2019/students/teresa.vantwuijver/raw/master/docs/images/week5_softsensorproto2.gif)*Teresa van Twuijver, 2019*
Find my project page [here](./projects/archiving_new_naturals)
Her [circular fashion designs](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/teresa.vantwuijver/assignments/week03/) are also quite cool!
![](./images/pics-insta3.jpg)
**Barbara's Kombucher!**
Really cool idea to make a tool like this [kombucha fiber printer](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/barbara.arteaga/projects/final-project/)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cuHtJgnv2qU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
And many many more...
<br><br><br>
### Go big or go home: drag performers and other style queens
This is something I've been obsessed with for a long time. I think the innovative ways of thinking about the malleability and unstable nature of the body and gender is super interesting and made me fall in love with this art form. I do it myself sometimes too :) No RuPaul quote is lost on me (we're all born naked and the rest is...you know the rest). I'd love to take as many assignments as possible closer toward something that might be applicable in the context of the art of drag to develop into a larger project later. I imagine eco-aware drag could be a very interesting avenue to explore. In the meantime, I'll summarize as: go big, or go home.
**House of Holographic Hoes and Milk X Hana Quist**
A local house who did an amazing show at last year's superball, with over the top LED powered gowns. I mean, I don't really like LED strips so much, especially not in clothing but context IS everything.
Or drag performer Milk in this knitted number by Hana Quist. Oh yes.
![](./images/wk0_drag.jpg)*Left: House of Holographic Hoes at Paradiso's Superball, 2019. Right: Drag performer Milk in a knitted garment by Hana Quist*
**Other fabulous drag performers and style queens**
Such as Aynouk Tan - you can worry about the clothing mountain - or just dress up as one. I think [her thinking and personal style](https://www.aynouktan.com/) are really out there.
![Aynouk Tan](https://aynouktan.com/____impro/1/onewebmedia/10827970_10153943396384659_1941713512951619825_o-2.jpg?etag=%22464ea-58ef9af9%22&sourceContentType=image%2Fjpeg&ignoreAspectRatio&resize=700,467)*Aynouk Tan with a mic and smiling lady in black*
**I bow to Valeska Jasso Collado for her graduation collection**
These theatrical garments have an amazing genderclowning vibe about them, they remind me of [1920s Bauhaus costumes](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U4wEGXhe1duKVyacjE6z3KsIFZg=/0x0:1000x645/1200x800/filters:focal(420x243:580x403)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57322995/escola_bauhaus.0.0.jpg)and I love it! She folded latex-covered foam into [geometric garments](https://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/09/valeska-jasso-collado-westminster-fashion-collection/).
![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3f/fd/40/3ffd409a341499881843557a29ac5b6f.jpg)*image by Valeska Jasso Colado*
<br><br><br>
### Textile artists/designers/upcyclists/hackers
![](./images/wk0_designinspiration.jpg)
*Images: Golden Joinery (image by Droog) in the background, Justyna Wolodkiewicz' embellishments (left) and Anya Hindmarch's embellished skirt (image by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images Europe)*
**[Golden Joinery](http://goldenjoinery.com/#about) or kintsugi for clothing, by Painted Series** is a really nice example of repair as a design strategy that adds value to used things.
I really enjoy the hectic **embellishments by Justyna Wolodkiewicz** and the one on the **pink skirt by Anya Hindmarch** There's loads out there. One reason why I like this is because I imagine picking cleverly from waste materials will allow for a lot of cool designs. They can also be combined with electronics perhaps? I really like the 3D textures you can add with this.
**Coral Love Stories by Kasia Molga (and Erik Overmeire)** below is such a beautiful combination of fashion and electronics and thermochromic pigments. It's very subtle, unlike some other sources of inspiration but I just think this is beautifully done and tells an important story about shringking coral reefs.
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/211299558?color=00d554&byline=0&portrait=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>*Coral Love Story by Kasia Molga (with Erik Overmeire and Ricardo O'Nascimento)*
And let's not forget the amazing experiments and documentation done by **[Plusea on the Kobakant How to Get What You Want page](https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/)**, such as this beardy sway sensor....*bows*.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47790755952_9b33dd38fa.jpg)
Last but not least, a shop! **[Mooizooi in Haarlem](https://mooizooi.org/)!** This is a social enterprise that collects waste materials from industry, sort it by color, and sell it for almost nothing. I'd love to stop by there and use only this leftover material, for example to make the embellishments like the ones below.
<br><br><br>
**My own students who have inspired me!**
The students I get to know during the minor Makers Lab continue to inspire, teach and challenge(!) me loads. Some of their experiments were really great!
![](./images/wk0_studentwork.jpg)
Top left is Geert Lens' textile touchscreen entirely made from scratch (2018). He developed a ropemaker to insulate conductive thread, a loom to make the textile, and of course programmed the sensor himself.
Geert also made this glove (bottom left) that vibrates when it senses peaks in electromagnetic fields, such as when a subway train pulls out of a station (together with Anton Westin and Jaap Spruitenburg 2018). The wanted to explore invisible signals in the city and found that some people are extremely sensitive to EMFs, whereas most of us aren't even aware of them.
## About me
Melissa de Bie and Elisa van der Burg's and bioplastics experiments to research how they could make the gorgeous tote bag in 2019 (middle).
I live in Rotterdam, but I'm from lovely Southern city Eindhoven, and I work in Amsterdam (but currently during the COVID-19 crisis, I'm stuck at home with two nice cats). My normal work home is the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences where I work as a researcher at the Visual Methodologies Collective, and coordinator and educator of a semester course on (critical) making and digital fabrication. During this course, I was appointed senior lecturer to set up a learning community in Critical Making & Research Through Design in the context of our Fashion school AMFI. Dreams do come true sometimes <3
Kristin Jakubek & Frida Eriksson's skin sensor (with some help of Geert) from 2018 (top right).
Participating in this academy brings together a few things I've been working on for a while: open-source and critical approaches to tools and technology, contemporary making practices, and the question of doing creative work in critical, contextualized ways. For example, I'm part of Amsterdam-based collective [Hackers & Designers](https://hackersanddesigners.nl/), and was the editor of the [*Critical Maker’s Reader: (Un)Learning Technology*](https://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/the-critical-makers-reader-unlearning-technology/). The book was a collaboration with Letizia Chiappini and the Institute of Network Cultures. It's collection of texts that address questions around contemporary critical making and what it could (and should?) become. I work with students on related practices and topics in the interdisciplinary semester course [*Makers Lab: Making as Research*](https://makerslab.hotglue.me/start) that I developed with Shirley Niemans, and am now teaching together with Sam Edens and Micky van Zeijl.
Geert's coils that pick up some residue energy from RFID scanners, just enough to light up an LED (bottom right).
### Back in 2015...
<br><br><br>
### Books
* Radical Matter: Rethinking Materials for a Sustainable Future by Kate Franklin
* Zeroes and Ones by Sadie Plant
* Fray by Julia Bryan-Wilson
* Folding Techniques for Designers From Sheet to Form by Paul Jackson
* Supersurfaces" Folding as Method of Generating Forms for Architecture, Products and Fashion by Sophia Vyzoviti
Fun fact: I know Shirley back from when I did the Fabacademy in 2015. It put a lot of nice projects in motion for us and led to a great friendship! My final project was a toy for wunderkammers, that I loved making and am still proud of because of all the work and learning that went into it. I also feel quite ambivalent about it now, because it was such a self-indulgent thing to create in a way. At the same time the skills I learned were invaluable, and the process has shaped my thinking on the meaning of making and the kind of knowledge created by developing intimate knowledge of tools, materials and general craftsmanship.
That's it for now! :boom:
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/155540856?color=00d554&byline=0&portrait=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
*Video of my final project from Fabacademy, Loes Bogers, 2015*
## Why fabricademy?
I'm able to join the Fabricademy with the generous support of my employer (the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences). This program directly ties in with some current developments: there's recently been a great interest in practices that could be called critical making, which has been a research interest of mine. And we're looking to expand our research and education more specifically toward critical making in the context of the fashion industry. What would be a better place to get started than here? This truly is a bucket list moment. The focus on sustainability in combination with digital fabrication tooling, specific to the area of application of textiles and fashion is very powerful. Stoked!
*Below is the template for a new ingredient entry:*
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- **[Title of publication 1]** by [First + Last Name Author]\([Affiliation/Institution]\), [Publication name or channel], [YYYY], [link](put URL here).
###Copyright information
*Is the information listed above copyrighted or published under e.g. a creative commons licence? Provide info here.*
*If not, please state that you agree to publish this recipe under a [Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike (CC BY-SA 2.0) license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)*
**By submitting this recipe I agree to publish it under a CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons license. Please mention to these details for attributions:**
[Title of publication 1] by [First Name, Last Name Author]\([Affiliation/Institution]\), [YYYY], [Publication name or channel],[link](put URL here).
##ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY
*Describe known concerns and issues with this recipe/technique, provide clear explations arguments people may have put forward to address issues with the technique, this material, or it ingredients. Consider social, economical, cultural, political, ecological considerations*
Needs further research? Yes/No
[Describe avenues that need research here]
**Sustainability tags**
- **Renewable**: yes/no/needs further research
- **Vegan**: yes/no/needs further research
- **Made of by-products or waste**: yes/no/needs further research
- **Biocompostable**: yes/no/needs further research, [describe duration and conditions for composting]
- **Re-usable:** yes/no/needs further research [describe here, e.g. melting, mixing, shredding]
Needs further research?: Yes/No/Not sure
[Notes]
##PROPERTIES
*Based on technical property categories used in the Material District archive https://materialdistrict.com/material, and the sensory descriptors categories proposed in: Lerma, Beatrice (2010). Materials ecoefficiency and perception. Proceedings: CESB 2010 Prague - Central Europe towards Sustainable Building 'From Theory to Practice': pp. 1-8.*
- **Strength**: fragile/medium/strong/variable
- **Hardness**: rigid/resilient/flexible/variable
- **Transparency**: opaque/translucent/transparent/variable
- **Glossiness**: glossy/matt/satin/variable
- **Weight**: light/medium/heavy
- **Structure**: closed/open/variable
- **Texture**: rough/medium/smooth/variable
- **Temperature**: cool/medium/warm/variable
- **Shape memory**: low/medium/high/variable
- **Odor**: none/moderate/strong/variable
- **Stickiness**: low/medium/high/variable
- **Weather resistance:** poor/medium/high/needs further research
- **Acoustic properties:** absorbing/reflecting/needs further research
- **Anti-bacterial:** yes/no/needs further research
- **Non-allergenic:** yes/no/needs further research
- **Electrical properties:** yes/no/needs further research
- **Heat resistance:** low/medium/high/needs further research
- **Water resistance:** low/water resistant/waterproof/needs further research
- **Chemical resistance:** low/medium/high/needs further research
- **Scratch resistance:** poor/moderate/high/needs further research
- **Surface friction:** sliding/medium/braking/variable
- **Sensitive to color modifiers:** alkaline/acidic/none
##ABOUT
**Maker(s) of this sample**
- Name: [First + Last Name]
- Affiliation: [Institution Name]
- Location: [City], [Country]
- Date: [DD-MM-YYYY] – [DD-MM-YYYY]
**Environmental conditions**
- Humidity: [number]% / not sure
- Outside temp: [min-max] degrees Celcius
- Room temp: [min-max] degrees Celcius
- PH tap water: 1-14
**Recipe validation**
Has recipe been validated?
No/Yes, by [NAME], [AFFILIATION], [LOCATION], [DATE]
**Images of the final sample**
*Image guidelines: all images should be of the object on a white background. The overview image should show the object in its entirety with a frame of white background enclosing it, adding a detail image is recommended. Crop off edges if necessary. All images should be landscape format.*
![](../images/yourimage1.jpg)*Caption, Image credit, Year*
![](../images/yourimage2.jpg)*Caption, Image credit, Year*
![](../images/yourimage3.jpg)*Caption, Image credit, Year*
##REFERENCES
[List all references used, including key sources of the recipe]
- **[Title of publication 1]** by [First + Last Name Author]\([Affiliation/Institution]\), [Publication name or channel], [YYYY], [link](put URL here).
#ARCHIVE STARTER: RECIPES
A selection of 24 biofabricated materials we suggest to build as your "starter archive". It is developed for anyone who would like to build their own physical archive with samples. Building the basic archive will teach you the foundational techniques that most other recipes will build upon, and require you to collect the basic tools and ingredients you will need. By making this archive starter of material samples, you will learn some of the most important techniques to start your own R&D lab for design materials.
| Title | Approx. Price | Image |
|-----------------|---------|--------------------------|
| [Biofoam](../../files/recipes/biofoam/) | €0,50 | ![](../images/finalpics-16_foam.jpg)
| [Extra Flexible Foil](../../files/recipes/biofoilextraflexible)| €0,78 | ![](../images/finalpics-67.jpg) |
| [Bioresin](../../files/recipes/bioresin) | €2,56 | ![](../images/finalpics-37.jpg)|
| [Biosilicone](../../files/recipes/biosilicon) | €1,68| ![](../images/finalpics-45_silicone.jpg) |
| [Starch rubber](../../files/recipes/biorubber) | €2,26 | ![](../images/finalpics-47.jpg) |
| [Biolinoleum]((../../files/recipes/biolino)) | €0,78 | ![](../images/finalpics-56.jpg) |
| [Alginate net](../../files/recipes/alginatenet) | €0,57 | ![](../images/finalpics.jpg) |
| [Alginate foil](../../files/recipes/alginatefoil) | €1,12 | ![](../images/finalpics-52.jpg) |
| [Alginate string](../../files/recipes/alginatestring) | €0,57 | ![](../images/finalpics-72.jpg) |
| [Agar foil](../../files/recipes/agarfoil) | €0,50 | ![](../images/finalpics-80.jpg) |
| [Agar composite]((../../files/recipes/agarcomposite)) | €0,57 | ![](../images/finalpics-58.jpg) |
| [Re-used PLA scraps]((../../files/recipes/recycledPLA)) | €0,00 | ![](../images/finalpics-61.jpg) |
| [Alum crystal silk]((../../files/recipes/alumcrystalsilk)) | €2,00 | ![](../images/finalpics-5.jpg) |
| [Kombucha SCOBY]((../../files/recipes/kombuchascoby)) | €6,15 | ![](../images/) |
| [Kombucha paper](../../files/recipes/kombuchapaper) | €0,64 | ![](../images/finalpics-14.jpg)
| [Flower paper and dye](../../files/recipes/flowerpaper) | €0,01 | ![](../images/finalpics-127.jpg) |
| [Overripe mango leather](../../files/recipes/mangoleather) | €0,21 | ![](../images/finalpics-20.jpg) |
| [Banana Peel Clay](../../files/recipes/bananaclay) | €0,10 | ![](../images/finalpics-188.jpg) |
| [Tanned fish skin](../../files/recipes/fishskin) | €1,10 | ![](../images/finalpics-76.jpg) |
| [Madder dye](../../files/recipes/madderdye) | €2,01 | ![](../images/finalpics-83.jpg) |
| [Red cabbage dye](../../files/recipes/cabbagedye) | €0,01 | ![](../images/finalpics-115.jpg) |
| [Yellow onion skin dye](../../files/recipes/oniondye) | €0,02 | ![](../images/finalpics-143.jpg) |
| [PH modifiers for biochromes](../../files/recipes/phmodifiers) | €0,02 | ![](../images/finalpics-185.jpg) |
| [Bacterial dye on silk](../../files/recipes/bacterialdye) | €17,50 | ![](../images/finalpics-124.jpg) |
\ No newline at end of file
#Proposal for open online archiving
Below's slideshow is a mock-up of an imagined online archive to rethink the way we might archive new naturals in a context-aware, collaborative way. In many ways, the proposal follows the form and functions the same way other content management systems allow users to contribute. So there is nothing new there, it is the point that it looks familiar and recognizable as such.
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSOITFNlLhDRTC-h4-3g8u4V4mp2aVy5ONBdhKwN_7VJFTJSQW5lZD5VXOjcPAiExnz6gH1xD5-qoX1/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" frameborder="0" width="600" height="629" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
**Meaningful filtering and correlating with additional fields**
The contribution envisioned here is more about the way database entries might allow for other perspective. For example: how might we approach recipes, ingredients, and user locations in more *relational* ways? How can new fields that ask contributors to make more specific and nuanced ethical and ecological considerations, be turned into meaningfully searchable tags and filtering? This mock-up tries to probe such questions by imagining such an archiving system and different roles for different kinds of users.
**Proposed features**
Developing a working database was outside the scope of this project, and connecting to existing initiatives may be a better avenue to explore. The design of the system proposed here:
- **enables peer feedback**, ratings and constructive criticism
- incorporate **additional fields** in contribution forms, to promote, include and build more nuanced understanding of the historical, cultural and ecological context of materials and ingredients.
- include **audiovisual material** that can convey tactile and sensorial qualities of samples
- its logics of organisation and additional required fields can promote and **add a critical angle on the way we consider new naturals** as material alternatives. It allows users to filter on the properties as well as constituent ingredients *and* other tags pulled from the fields of the recipe and ingredient forms that may all become relevant filtering criteria: such as local abundance in your area. Most successful recipes, or most contested ones that could be further researched.
- the way the datastructures are linked **allow for analysis of popular recipes and correlations** with geographical regions, environmental conditions and local abundance of certain ingredients
The suggested features may be included in existing archives (preferred) or be a starting point for a new initiative. Do get in touch if you are are working on material archiving and would like to explore this further! l[dot]bogers[at]hva[dot]nl
#INGREDIENTS & CONSUMABLES
![](../images/ingredients-2.jpg)*Some ingredients you'll need, Loes Bogers, 2020*
The recipes listed on this website can be used as a starting point for material makers in the Netherlands and around. Consider per ingredient if this is something that is locally abundant in your area. If not, try finding something that could substitute that ingredient to make it your own, and follow the local natural resources around *you*.
With these 40 ingredients you can list all the 25 recipes suggested as a material archive starter, with a suggestion for a local supplier and approximation of the cost per unit. Check out the tools section as well, this list contains disposables only. For under € 500 you can purchase all the ingredients listed below, and most will last many rounds of experiments. The prices listed per material sample in the recipe section are based on the prices below. Of course it is possible to buy smaller packages of most ingredients, this will be *relatively* expensive, but wise if you are planning to just try it out.
##Locally abundant ingredients to collect
Selecting the 24 recipes to start with in the Netherlands were mostly motivated by what is abundant here locally. So the ingredients listed here involve food waste and byproducts that ideally should not be purchased, but sourced by accessing waste streams or collecting leftovers. If you start out doing this from home, it really helps to collect nice glass jars, pots and bowls for collecting and drying food waste. Remove the labels and give them a nice place e.g. in a window where you are reminded and where you can keep an eye on them as they dry.
![](../images/toolpics-4.jpg)
| Nr | Ingredient | Approx. Price | Where to find |
|-----|-------|---------|---------|
| 1 | Yellow onion skins| n/a | identify waste streams in your home, neighbourhood and/or local supermarkets/restaurants | add notes here |
| 2 | Red cabbage | n/a | identify waste streams in your home, neighbourhood and/or local supermarkets/restuarants |
| 3 | Fish skins | n/a | connect to local fish mongers or a fish market and try to access this as a waste stream, also ask for fish scales! Can be used to make plastic and glue as well|
| 4 | Egg shells |n/a | identify waste streams in your home, neighbourhood and/or local supermarkets/restaurants |
| 5 | PLA scraps | n/a | identify waste streams locally, in fablabs, printshops etcetera. Ask for scraps and failed prints that are easier to handle manually |
| 6 | Withered flowers | n/a | connect to local flower shops to access these as a waste stream, flowers in nature are there to be enjoyed by everyone, don't pick them|
| 7 | Banana peels | n/a | identify waste streams in your home, neighbourhood and/or local supermarkets/restaurants |
| 8 | Overripe mangos | n/a | identify waste streams at local markets |
##List of ingredients to buy
The ingredients below are things you will likely have to buy. It's good exercise to localize options that are produced fairly and sustainably, and ideally locally. Research the manufacturers, contact them, find out where things are produced and what your best option might be. These may be subject to change and more research can be done to find even better options. Consider this an open invitation to improve what is here!
| Nr | Ingredient | Approx. Price | Supplier | Notes |
|-----|-------|---------|--------|------|
| 9 | Denatured alcohol 96% | € 6 per L | [Orphi](https://www.drogist.nl/orphi-alcohol-96-gedenat-5-en-methan-1000ml.htm) | this version has 5% methanol |
| 10 | Potato starch | € 2,60 per 250 g | [Johannesmolen or other eco brand](https://www.ekoplaza.nl/producten/product/aardappelzetmeel?channable=e63107.MTU4Ng&gclid=CjwKCAjwhOD0BRAQEiwAK7JHmMX6if0OD3uBoImteSVMm5d27XDRRQr4rr1YdMX48C4HwlO4B7ZNzxoCTLMQAvD_BwE) | produced in the Netherlands |
| 11 | Glycerine | € 10 per L | [Chempropack for Orphi](https://www.deonlinedrogist.nl/drogist/chempropack-glycerine-123.htm) or search for "Glycerine 1.23 chempropack" | foodgrade (E422), vegetable-based, produced in Portugal |
| 12 | Gelatine powder | € 27 per kg | [Dr Oetker or Jacob Hooy for 1 kg packages](https://www.bouwhuis.com/dr-oetker-prof-gelatinepoeder-1kg) or search for "gelatine powder 1kg" | also available at wholesalers like Sligro |
| 13 | Agar powder | € 72 per kg | [De Kruidenbaron](https://www.dekruidenbaron.nl/agar-agar-poeder.html?id=133179224) or search for "agar powder" | also found in Asian supermarkets |
| 14 | Bees wax | € 35 per kg | [Wiertz](https://www.superfoodstore.nl/drogisterij/overig-huishoudelijk/wiertz-bijenwas-zuiver-1-kg?search_query=bijenwas&results=645) or search for "pure bees wax" | other types may be fine, need to be tested |
| 15 | Sodium Alginate| € 15 per 300 g | [Unique Products](https://www.unique-products.nl/qr_alginate.html) | at wholesalers like sligro or cooking shops. Other types of sodium alginate could be researched further |
| 16 | Calcium chloride | € 6 per 500 g | [Brandless](https://www.werkenmetmerken.nl/nl/calciumchloride_poeder_food_grade/p/47859/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4dr0BRCxARIsAKUNjWS_6b7zZZuTGeBrYNpcCWrEiLdMfli2Lipr8VFhCHWqDCQq6K4MRE8aAo9AEALw_wcB#75469) | this is food grade, but it is a desiccant that **can be dangerous to health in high concentrations. Do not ingest!** Wear gloves |
| 17 | White vinegar | € 0,50 per 1,5L | [any homebrand at supermarket or grocery store, e.g.](https://www.jumbo.com/jumbo-witte-natuurazijn-1,-5l/137400FLS/) | or any other 4-8% vinegar with a PH of around 3 (too acidic can kill microbes in e.g. kombucha recipes) |
| 18 | Citric acid | € 7 per kg | [usually brandless, e.g.](https://www.natuurproduct.com/a-45323177-4066077/meel-bakmiddel/citroenzuur/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4dr0BRCxARIsAKUNjWRLZUF25Uj4MQnHTFJ0iTntPDmHbUjCnNsdJww_YGBe2UKfq7xiQt8aAj7NEALw_wcB#description) or can be found in asian super markets | smaller packages best found in asian supermarkets|
| 19 | Kitchen salt | € 0,50 per kg | [Any brand](https://www.bouwhuis.com/keukenzout-1kg?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4dr0BRCxARIsAKUNjWQtGd6xkDv9Taij7Zg0OW7bg3lZwScrN0lQPIg4OT3rbFxGo5NbGSsaAmyBEALw_wcB) or plain kitchen salt from supermarket | plain salt formula is NaCl |
| 20 | Soda ash (carbonate soda, washing soda) | € 3,5 per kg | [Greenhub via Ekoplaza](https://www.ekoplaza.nl/producten/product/wassoda) or search for "carbonate soda, soda ash or in Dutch: natriumcarbonaat or huishoudsoda" | Na2C03 (or E500) is carbonate soda and is used for cleaning. Bicarbonate soda or baking powder is NOT the same |
| 21 | Dishwashing soap | € 2 per 450 ml | [e.g. Ecover](https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi434053/ecover-afwasmiddel-zero) or any eco dishwashing soap | smells will transfer to the bioplastic |
| 22 | Raw kombucha | € 3 per 300 ml | [YaYa Original Kombucha](https://www.ekoplaza.nl/producten/product/kombucha-original) | or any kombucha drink with raw culture in it (should say so on the packaging). You can also buy a SCOBY from a brewer directly |
| 23 | Black tea | € 2 per 50 bags | [Pickwick](https://www.plus.nl/product/pickwick-english-zwarte-thee-pot-voordeelpak-doos-50-stuks-739934) | any plain black (ceylon, english breakfast tea) or green tea will do. Flavouring (e.g. earl grey often contains oils) and does not work well |
| 24 | Sugar| € 1 per 1.5 KG | [brandless](https://www.plus.nl/product/neutraal-suiker-zak-1500-gram-867669) | plain white (organic) sugar is best |
| 25 | Alum | € 9 per kg | [Orphi](https://www.deweegschaal.nl/orphi/aluin-1000g?channable=e72547.MTEyODk2OQ&utm_campaign=tradetracker&utm_content=&utm_source=tradetracker&utm_medium=CPS&utm_term=&s2m_channel=34&s2m_exclickid=1537697%3A%3A183960%3A%3ACj0KCQjw4dr0BRCxARIsAKUNjWRqRUOeOdiVoK2FEOSw0F80flvrCgfomVWKThQGQlH2QRTh.-i2YD4aAq3KEALw.wcB%3A%3A%3A%3A1586971657&s2m_exaffid=183960) or search for "Alum, Potash alum or potassium aluminium sulphate" | in Dutch often sold as "Aluin" crystals |
| 26 | Madder roots (dried) | € 35 per 1 KG | [Meervilt](https://www.meervilt.nl/winkel/verven/natuurlijk-verven/meekrap/) or search for "madder roots, or rubia tinctorum" | in Dutch: "meekrap wortel, gedroogd"|
| 27 | Water | € 0 per 1L | [Dutch tap water](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/drinkwater/vraag-en-antwoord/hoe-is-de-kwaliteit-van-het-drinkwater-in-nederland) | of course this is not free. Dutch tap water currently costs about 0,00064 euros per L and is considered to be very high quality. If unsure, use demineralized water for your recipes (found at drug stores)|
| 28 | Sunflower oil | € 1,5 per 1L | [Any brand](https://www.deen.nl/product/g-woon-zonnebloemolie-1-liter) or find at super market in the oil isle | or try other vegetable oils |
| 29 | Cloves | € 1,40 per 5 gr | [supermarket or grocer](https://www.jumbo.com/jumbo-kruidnagel-5g/182379STK/) | get whole cloves, not powder |
| 30 | Pure silk chiffon | € 17 per meter | [Fabric shop](https://www.zijdewinkel.nl/stoffen/zijde/chiffon/chiffon-35-natuurwit-op-138-cm-breed) silk chiffon | this is 138 cm wide. In dutch: search for chiffon or mousseline |
| 31 | Yarn | € 3,00 per 125m | [Hobbii eco bamboo/cotton yarn](https://hobbii.nl/garen/rainbow-bamboo-1003671) or search for eco yarns | any yarn would do in principle |
| 32 | Pipe cleaners | € 1 per 20 | [LTC Leiden](https://www.ltcleiden.nl/artikel/chenilledraad-6-mm-30-cm-20-stuks-wit/16132/) or search for "pipe cleaners" | dutch: chenilledraad found in hobby shops |
| 33 | Crunchy peanut butter | € 5 per 500 g | [Ekoplaza](https://www.ekoplaza.nl/producten/product/pindakaas-ongezouten-en-ongezoet?channable=e63107.MzIzMzIx&gclid=CjwKCAjwhOD0BRAQEiwAK7JHmKG4MBo-FHA0n-m_Q9zrfFH7vJJ-ERrEFCj57WFzM_mrYrsp5jR7vxoCq38QAvD_BwE) or any organic crunchy peanut butter | find one without additives |
| 34 | Large coffee filters | € 12 per 1000pcs | [Kantinewinkel.nl](https://www.kantinewinkel.nl/korffilters-90-250-mm-1000-stuks?gclid=CjwKCAjwhOD0BRAQEiwAK7JHmLSGH9uxWY1DPg9y4xiibzwSJ64rLf3Igu2PTneOu3lVS9dbUzo4SxoCjhkQAvD_BwE) or search for "large coffee filters" | Dutch: korffilters are the round variety |
| 35 | Turpentine | € 3 per L | [Gamma](https://www.gamma.nl/assortiment/ok-terpentine-1-liter/p/B547476) or any hardware store | the eco might work too, but this variety still needs to be tested |
| 36 | Boiled linseed/flaxseed oil | € 4 per L | [Gamma](https://www.gamma.nl/assortiment/gamma-lijnolie-gekookt-500-ml/p/B507653) or any hardware store | Be sure to get the boiled version, not the raw one or the foodgrade oil. The boiled linseed oil dries faster. Raw *might* work but needs to be tested. In Dutch: "gekookte lijnolie" |
###Specialist lab supplies
These are required to make the bacterial dye listed here. Try connecting to a biolab near you if these are hard to acquire otherwise.
| Nr | Ingredient | Approx. Price | Supplier | Notes |
|-----|-------|---------|---------|------|
| 37 | LB broth| € 90 per kg | [Fishersci](https://www.fishersci.nl/shop/products/ready-made-luria-broth-lb-powder-2/15805378#?keyword=LB+broth) or search for "Luria Broth Powder" | this is used as a liquid growth medium to grow bacteria on. Liquid broth is the better option to dye textiles directly |
| 38 | Strain of Serratia Marcescens Bacteria | € 50 per 1 ml | [BCCM Belspo Belgium](http://bccm.belspo.be/services/distribution) | be sure to ask the supplier for a level 1 type, some conditions for purchasing may apply, consider collaborating with a local biolab for the first experiments |
| 39 | Parafilm | € 36 per roll of 75m | [Fishersci](https://www.fishersci.nl/shop/products/purple-parafilm-m-sealing-film/16330422#?keyword=parafilm) or search for "parafilm" | 5 cm width is fine it can be cut into smaller pieces |
| 40 | Autoclave tape | € 22 per roll of 12m | [Fishersci](https://www.fishersci.nl/shop/products/adhesive-autoclave-indicator-tape/11720474#?keyword=autoclave+tape) or search for "autoclave indicator tape" | indicator for steam sterilization processes (will change color when sterilized) |
![](../images/pics-insta3.jpg)
#Archiving New Naturals
##towards a context-aware global material commons: what's in *your* local archive?
![](../images/pics-insta3.jpg)*Building a local archive, Loes Bogers, 2020*
by Loes Bogers, 2020
The goal of this project was to explore and develop methods for open archiving of socalled "new naturals". "New" or "other" naturals are not a thing (yet). But we can see this concept being used in material archives, as container category for materials that don't fit the traditional material families of wood, hide, metal, glass, plastics, stone, etcetera. New or other naturals is a left-over tag to indicate composite or otherwise hybrid materials made from renewable natural resources such as food waste, plant fibres etcetera.
**The goal of this project was to explore and develop simple methods for open archiving of socalled "new naturals"\*. The outcomes are developed to work toward a collaborative, global - but context-aware - material archive....**
With the following tools and templates to facilitate collaborative, global - but context-aware and localized - documenting and archiving of "new naturals":
- that is not only ecologically, but also historically, culturally, geographically aware;
- that can extend material activism beyond bioplastics alone;
......@@ -12,112 +16,116 @@
- that promotes an open-source attitude to the development of design materials, and credits the work done by others before you;
- that acknowledges all those practical questions: from buying the right kind of ingredients, all the way to tips and tricks for that challenging phase of controlled drying and curing materials to its "final" form;
- that is explained in layman's terms, demystifying ingredients and processes without oversimplifying them;
- imaging collaborative open archiving that can facilitate critique, contestations, suggestions, updates and reviews from peers;
- imaging collaborative open archiving that can facilitate critique, describe dilemmas, suggestions, updates and reviews from peers;
- offering a package that allows novices to learn, and educators to get started in a systematic way...
- ... and encourages experienced material designers and "alchemists" to continue asking the hard critical questions regarding sustainability, resource and waste streams and share those considerations with each recipe or ingredient.
\* *note: "new" or "other" naturals is not a thing (yet). But the word is sometimes used in material archives as container category for materials that don't fit the traditional material families of wood, hide, metal, glass, plastics, stone, etcetera. New or other naturals is a left-over tag to indicate composite or otherwise hybrid materials made from renewable natural resources such as food waste, plant fibres etcetera.*
- ... and encourages experienced material designers to "stay with the trouble" and to continue asking those tough critical questions regarding sustainability, resource and waste streams, and to share those considerations with each recipe or ingredient.
![](../images/pics-insta1.jpg)*Working on a recipe, Loes Bogers, 2020*
##Outcomes
The outcomes of the selection are threefold: 1) a number of documentation tools and templates, in an effort to ask new questions when developing processes and combining materials; 2) a curated recipe selection from best practices in labs all over the world, that offer a comprehensive starting point for exploring "new naturals" in e.g. (informal) learning contexts; and 3) suggestions for structuring and building on this knowledge in open, collaborative ways, with critical considerations of technical, sensorial as well as cultural, historical and ecological aspects.
The outcomes of the selection are threefold: 1) a number of documentation tools and templates that help us ask new questions when developing processes and combining materials; 2) a curated selection of recipes from best practices in labs all over the world, that offer a comprehensive starting point for exploring "new naturals" in e.g. (informal) learning contexts; and 3) suggestions for structuring and building on this knowledge in open, collaborative ways, with critical considerations of technical, sensorial as well as cultural, historical and ecological aspects.
###1. Tools and templates for documenting "new naturals"
- [**a list of tools**](../tools) needed to start your a local, physical collection material samples (a local physical archive, e.g. in a university lab)
- [**a video tutorial**](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/templates/tactilityvideo/) for capturing the tactile experience of material samples
- [**a template for new recipes**](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/templates/new_recipe/), to help you capture the entire process, while asking the hard contextual questions and document relevant considerations when developing new recipes and consideration applications and scale. Colleague fabricademer Beatriz Sandini tested and used the templates to document the recipes of her project [Ephemeral Fashion Lab](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/beatriz.sandini/projects/0-final-project/).
- [**template to add new ingredients**](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/templates/new_ingredient/), helping you ask the hard questions and document relevant considerations for adopting new ingredients and additives, also in terms of upscaling.
- [**templates for labels**](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/templates/labels/) to create your own physical archive with material samples (building on the work of Maria Viftrup who designed the original sample label designs for TextileLab Waag).
- [**the start of a manifesto for archiving new naturals**](../outcomes/new_naturals_manifesto), comprised of a list of considerations I've come to find very helpful in thinking about the archiving practices of new naturals;
- [**a video tutorial**](../outcomes/tools_and_templates/tactilityvideo/) for capturing the tactile experience of material samples
- [**a template to document recipes**](../outcomes/tools_and_templates/recipe_template/), to help you capture the entire process, while asking the hard contextual questions and document relevant considerations when developing new recipes and consideration applications and scale. Colleague fabricademer Beatriz Sandini tested and used the templates to document the recipes of her project [Ephemeral Fashion Lab](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/beatriz.sandini/projects/0-final-project/).
- [**a template to document ingredients**](../outcomes/tools_and_templates/ingredient_template/), helping you ask the hard questions and document relevant considerations - such as local abundace and distance from source - for adopting new ingredients and additives, also in terms of upscaling.
- [**templates for labels**](../outcomes/tools_and_templates/label_templates/) to create your own physical archive with material samples (building on the work of Maria Viftrup who designed the original label designs for the material archive at TextileLab Waag).
![](../images/pics-insta2.jpg)*Measuring and logging shrinkage, Loes Bogers, 2020*
###2. Core recipes for starting your own *new naturals* sample archive
[A collection of 24 foundational recipes](../recipes) is curated and documented here, to allow anyone to start a physical sample archive with "new natural" materials. Two additional criteria were used to make the selection: it should include a range of techniques, and result in a variety of physical forms to accommodate makers and designers from different fields from product design as well as textiles and fashion.
Making material samples myself was the core part of the research process. It required making these (and actually many more) recipes, and trying to craft different physical forms to arrive at the important questions to ask biofabricated materials. Questions such as: when do you demould a bioplastic? How long does it take before it reached its final form and doesn't shrink anymore? Where does this recipe even come from? Is biodegradable necessarily more sustainable? Which factors makes a material sustainable? If it is sustainable, what other arguments might there be that make a material contested or controversial to use? Are there dilemmas to consider?
As a result of that process of making, wondering and questioning, [**a selection of 24 foundational recipes**](../outcomes/24_core_recipes/) is documented here, showing the research process, but also allowing anyone to start a physical sample archive with "new natural" materials. All of these materials are easily and harmlessly absorbed by nature within 90 days and/or can be turned into compost, moreover, most are home-compostable *without* controlled conditions that require industrial composting facilities following EU guidelines. And/or the material can be re-used with no or little additional resources. Biodegradability as a sustainability label is too often used to greenwash e.g. disposable packaging materials, so these criteria were chosen as point of departure.
Three additional criteria were used to make the selection: it should be based on local abundance (ingredients sourced and/or produced around my location. Secondly, it should include a range of techniques, and lastly, these techniques should result in a variety of physical forms that makers and designers from different fields can recognize as semi-formed design materials.
[![](../images/final_collage_recipes.jpg)](../outcomes/24_core_recipes/)*24 core recipes (and a collection of made samples) for the Dutch context, Loes Bogers, 2020*
**Selected based on local abundance**
Since this project was developed in the Netherlands, the consideration was to take local abundance as a starting point for any physical archive of material samples. The samples made for this project will be used at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences to help design students explore new natural materials through making. so it seems fitting to set the example of starting by looking for *local waste streams* to source ingredients, supplemented with ingredients that are *locally produced* as much as possible (ideally within the Netherlands or in neighbouring countries, alternatively within Europe). This also means that starting a physical sample archive elsewhere could and maybe *should* look different! What will be *your* list of 24 recipes using resources abundant in your location?
**A variety of biofabrication techniques**
The collection contains different techniques in biofabration to give a novice material designer a wide range of methods to explore the potential of the natural resources around them. I want to stress that these recipes are not my inventions, nor are they new. They are my personal variations at best, and this part of the work is heavily indebted to the knowledge collected and created in and around the Fabricademy network and other design and DIY biology communities, and also builds upon the (physical) Material Archive at Textile Lab Waag that was realised by Cecilia Raspanti, Maria Viftrup and others in 2016-2017. Where it was known and identifyable, the related work and cultural origins of the techniques are referenced in each recipe. Techniques include:
The collection contains different techniques in biofabrication to give a novice material designer a wide range of methods to explore the potential of the natural resources around them. I want to stress that these recipes are not my inventions, nor are they new. They are my personal variations at best, and this part of the work is heavily indebted to the knowledge collected and created in and around the Fabricademy network and other design and DIY biology communities, and also builds upon the (physical) Material Archive at Textile Lab Waag that was realised by Cecilia Raspanti, Maria Viftrup and others from 2016 onwards. Where it was known or identifyable, the related work and cultural origins of the techniques are referenced in each recipe. Techniques include:
- ***cooking*** bioplastics
- ***curing*** bioplastics with natural compounds (e.g. calcificatino of algae-based plastic)
- ***extracting*** natural pigments in the form of inks and dyes
- ***hacking biopolymers*** using various techniques for renewable biopolymers, borrowed from cooking and chemistry e.g. algae-based bioplastics
- ***extracting*** natural renewable pigments in the form of inks and dyes
- ***growing*** microbial cultures for leather alternatives and bacterial dyes
- ***crystallization*** of minerals
- ***re-use*** of biodegradable plastics such as PLA
- ***crystallization*** of molecules into organized forms (crystals)
- ***re-use*** of biodegradable bioplastics such as PLA (for which reuse is considered the better end of life cycle option)
- and examples of how all of the above may be combined by means of making ***composite materials***
**A variety of physical forms**
Secondly, the selection of 24 *techniques* is made based on the extent to which they allow material makers to craft a variety of *physical forms*. Considering which forms a material can take is equally a part of material learning and exploration, and is a starting point for understanding how they might be processed further by thermoforming, lasercutting, extruding, sewing, welding etcetera. The recipes result in:
- **surfaces** (flat materials, slabs, sheets)
- **strings** (that may be used as yarns or for additive manufacturing)
- **liquids** (water and alcohol based inks and dyes)
- **solids** (including 3D solids but also structurally open spatial forms like moulded composites)
- **surface treatments** (e.g. forming crystals on a substrate, direct dyeing with bacteria)
- ***surfaces*** (flat materials, slabs, sheets)
- ***strings*** (that may be used as yarns or for additive manufacturing)
- ***liquids*** (water and alcohol based inks and dyes)
- ***solids*** (including 3D solids but also structurally open spatial forms like moulded composites)
- ***surface treatments*** (e.g. forming crystals on a substrate, direct dyeing with bacteria)
###3. A features wishlist for an online materials repository
[This design brief](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YRHikbOnj0WLbVhc2BELcTUBk30rFFGOpYzF1ra7Jp4/edit?usp=sharing)
suggests an imagined system for a context-aware, collaborative materials database. Developing such a system is outside the scope of this project, and connecting to existing initiatives may be a better avenue to explore. The design of the system proposed here:
Lastly, I compiled [**a features wishlist**](../outcomes/features_wishlist) for online material archiving systems, which I document and explain in the form of a mock-up of a database system, and a walkthrough. It holds suggestions for a more context-aware, collaborative materials database. Which means that we should learn from each other, wherever we are. But recipes from all over the world should not be used as yet another candy shop where we can just pick whatever we fancy, but instead consider what might be more ethical for us to use.
Developing such a system is outside the scope of this project, and connecting to existing initiatives may be a better avenue to explore.
- **enables peer feedback**, ratings and constructive criticism
- its logics of organisation and additional required fields can promote and **add a critical angle on the way we consider new naturals** as material alternatives. It allows users to filter on the technical and sensorial properties as well as constituent ingredients *and* other tags pulled from the fields of the recipe and ingredient forms. The questions suggested can lead to considerations and tags that may all become relevant filtering criteria: such as *local abundance* in your area. Most *successful recipes*, or *most contested* ones that could be further researched.
- the way the datastructures are linked **allow for analysis of popular recipes and correlations** with geographical regions, environmental conditions and local abundance of certain ingredients
- the suggested **features may be included in existing archives (preferred)** or be a starting point for a new initiative.
- Features on this wishlist would **enable peer feedback**, ratings and constructive criticism;
- Its logics of organisation and additional required fields can promote and **add a critical angle on the way we consider new naturals** as material alternatives;
- It allows users to filter on material properties, constituent ingredients *and* other tags pulled from the fields of the recipe and ingredient forms. The comprehensive list of **questions in the recipe and ingredient templates can all be used as relevant filtering criteria**: such as *local abundance* in your area, most *successful recipes*, or perhaps recipes that could use some *additional research*;
- The way the datastructures are linked would **allow for analysis of popular recipes and correlations** with geographical regions, environmental conditions and local abundance of certain ingredients;
- The suggested **features may be included in existing archives (preferred)** or be a starting point for a new initiative.
###Future development
The templates and the starter recipes are envisioned as tools that can already contribute to building up local, offline communities who want to explore and become more aware of new natural material alternatives through making. This can be used already in informal learning contexts as well as (higher) education.
The templates and the starter recipes are envisioned as tools that can already contribute to building up local communities who want to explore and become more aware of new natural material alternatives by making a physical sample archive of new naturals. These can be used already in informal learning contexts as well as (higher) education.
Online repositories can facilitate communities of material explorers - from novice to expert - in constructing not only new materials, but also further the critical understanding of the processes and resources involved, and learn from techniques and arguments developed elsewhere. Of course for this to take effect the suggestions need to be realised in an existing database, or a new one might be developed. Future steps involve:
Online repositories can facilitate communities of material explorers - from novice to expert - in constructing not only new materials, but also further the critical understanding of the processes and resources involved, and learn from techniques and arguments developed elsewhere. Of course for this to take effect the suggestions need to be realised in an existing database, or a new one might be developed. Future steps involve:
- **realising the online database** further with a designer and developer or connecting to existing initiatives (preferred)
- research and/or develop and add **methods for DIY material testing**, like testing tensile strength, chemical resistance etc.
- create well-researched **ingredient pages** for all the ingredients used (for the moment only the entry for glycerine is there as an example).
- possibly add a **section for open-source DIY tools** for fabrication
- **further testing of the formats as tools for learning** in higher education and fabricademy, gathering peer feedback from peers
- **implementation and further testing of the formats as tools for learning** in higher education and fabricademy, gathering peer feedback from peers;
- **expand the local collection of physical samples** for my context, together with students and colleagues;
- research and/or develop and document **methods for DIY material testing**, like testing tensile strength, chemical resistance etc.
- create well-researched **ingredient pages** for all the ingredients used (for the moment only the entry for [**glycerine**](../../files/example_glycerine/) is there as an example);
- - **implementing features in an online database** further with a designer and developer or connecting to existing initiatives (preferred);
- continue by developing and documenting **open-source DIY tools** for biofabrication (was limited due to the current COVID-19 crisis).
![](../images/pics-insta4.jpg)*Documenting a recipe, Loes Bogers, 2020*
##State of the art
We are in a moment where more and more designers are starting to recognize the importance of materials and unlearning our wasteful and toxic addictions to plastic and other common design materials. This is a wildly interesting field that can be approached from many perspectives. This project contributes less to the *material engineering* side of materials research, but is more focused on the DIY, open-source approaches to it that can be useful for designers and makers to be used in critical material imaginaries.
We are in a moment where more and more designers are starting to recognize the importance of materials and of unlearning our wasteful and toxic addictions to plastic and other common design materials. This field that can be approached from many perspectives. This project contributes less to the *material engineering* side of materials research, but is more focused on the DIY, open-source approaches to it that can be useful for designers and makers to be used in critical material imaginaries.
Below is a discussion of a small selection from the current state of the art. This project is hugely indebted to each of them and the amazing work the people behind it have done. The critiques here come from a commitment to push the work further and extend the work others did before us. If you feel like your work should be acknowledged here or in the recipes, please contact me at l[dot]bogers[at]hva[dot]nl.
The discussion below describes a selection from the current state of the art. Overall, this project is hugely indebted to the people behind these initiatives and the amazing work they have done. The critiques here come from a commitment to push the work further and extend the work others did before us. If you feel like your work should be acknowledged here or in the recipes, please contact me at l[dot]bogers[at]hva[dot]nl.
###1. Classifying "new natural" materials
**Material District**
Commercial material archives are committed to showcasing new materials and rethinking ways of presenting material innovations (which can either be high-tech and innovative, or more innovative in the sense of sustainability). [Material District](https://materialdistrict.com/) is a match-making platform for organisations involved in R&D of materials, and design professionals. This organization hosts an annual materials fair in the Netherlands, and hosts an online archive, where new materials are logged together with some technical material properties, and information about manufacturers. New materials can be showcased at a cost of €100 per year.
Their role in matchmaking R&D with designers and industry is important and pivotal in promoting the uptake of new materials (Damadei, 2019).
Commercial material archives are committed to showcasing new materials and rethinking ways of presenting material innovations (which can either be high-tech and innovative, or more innovative in the sense of sustainability). [Material District](https://materialdistrict.com/) is a match-making platform for organisations involved in R&D of materials, and design professionals. This organization hosts an annual materials fair in the Netherlands, and an online archive, where new materials are logged together with some technical material properties, and information about manufacturers. New materials can be showcased at a cost of €100 per year.
But the classification systems continue to rely on traditional material families like wood, ceramics, and metals, and except for the container category of "other naturals". New and often hybrid materials require us to rethink such categories (Kula & Ternaux 2019: p. 337-338), but new models are still lacking.
Their role in matchmaking R&D with designers and industry is important and pivotal in promoting the uptake of new materials (Damadei, 2019). But the classification systems largely continue to rely on traditional material families like wood, ceramics, and metals, and except for the container category of "other naturals". New and often hybrid materials require us to rethink such categories (Kula & Ternaux 2019: p. 337-338), but new models are lacking.
One avenue might be to explore and make explicit the tactile qualities of materials, alongside their technical properties. Material District does this in a summarized way (see image below) that gives an overview of the material that is accessible to novices. Although their online repository is well thought through and comprehensive, the organisation continues to cater to clients need to get a "feel" for the different materials on offer, by organizing visits to their archive and by hosting a materials fair annually.
One avenue might be to explore and make explicit the tactile qualities of materials, alongside their technical properties. Material District does this in a summarized way (see image below) that gives an overview of the material that is accessible to novices. Although their online repository is well thought through and comprehensive, clients have a need to get a "feel" for the different materials on offer, that is catered for by organizing visits to their archive and by hosting a materials fair.
![](../images/materialdistrict.jpg)*Properties listed for each material on the Material District Archive, screenshot of their website, 2020*
**Sensory descriptors and categorization**
Besides the inspiration taken from Material District, the archive put forward here incorporates the sensory descriptors and categories proposed by Beatrice Lerma in her article "Materials ecoefficiency and perception. Proceedings" (2010: pp. 1-8). Discussing an existing reference tool called SensoTact, she describes a sensory vocabular to describe materials (e.g. stickiness, rough/smooth, hot/cold) in addition to parameters to evaluate socalled *material eco-compatibility*. [MATto](http://www.matto.design/en/home/), the materials library and consultancy service at the Politecnico di Torino has adopted this approach (but is not open to the public). To describe relative sustainability, Lerma suggests to discuss parameters such as toxicity, energy involved in production, shelf life, and distance to source.
Besides the inspiration taken from Material District, the templates and tools put forward here incorporate sensory descriptors and categories proposed by Beatrice Lerma in her article "Materials ecoefficiency and perception. Proceedings" (2010: pp. 1-8). Discussing an existing reference tool called *SensoTact*, Lerma proposes a sensory vocabulary to describe materials (e.g. stickiness, rough/smooth, hot/cold) in addition to parameters to evaluate socalled *material eco-compatibility*. [MATto](http://www.matto.design/en/home/), the materials library and consultancy service at the Politecnico di Torino has adopted this approach (but as far as I can tell is not open to the public). To describe relative sustainability, Lerma suggests to discuss parameters such as toxicity, energy involved in production, shelf life, and distance to source.
Material archives used in the context of polytecnic institutes generally take a focus that is more on the technical and engineering qualities of materials, with optical and tactile qualities being secondary: a small element within this much larger technical spectrum. It is argued however these sensorial qualities that can be pivotal in material acceptance and we need methods to account for them (Karana, Barati, Rognoli & Zeeuw van der Laan 2015): rather than organizing materials based on what they *are* (wood, metal, glass and so on) we might consider other systems along the lines of what they can *do* and *elicit* in us. Their work and methods are successfully finding their way into higher education in art and design schools in the Netherlands. What the approach suggested here might offer, is are the prompts that aim to instill a cultural, political and historical awareness of materials and their constintuent compounds.
Material archives used in the context of polytecnic institutes generally take a focus that is more on the technical and engineering qualities of materials, with optical and tactile qualities being secondary: a small element within this much larger technical spectrum. It is argued however that it is these sensorial qualities that can be pivotal in material acceptance, and that we need better methods to account for them (Karana, Barati, Rognoli & Zeeuw van der Laan 2015). Rather than organizing materials based on what they *are* (wood, metal, glass and so on) we might consider other systems along the lines of what they can *do* and *elicit* in us. Their work and methods are successfully finding their way into higher education in art and design schools in the Netherlands. What the approach suggested here might offer, is are the prompts that aim to instill a cultural, political and historical awareness of materials and their constintuent compounds.
**Physical forms vs. material families**
In parallel to the traditional materials families (wood, metals, etc) the MATto materials library *also* organizes materials more in line with fabrication methods and physical forms that are recognizable and useful to designers. Users can also navigate the archive by browsing collections put together based on their physical form: e.g. slabs, tubes & pipes, foam and expanded materials, textiles, grilles & nets, surface treatments, gels and pastes, grains/flakes & powders, and so on. This is an interesting approach that allows designers to consider different alternatives for a part of a product. For example someone designing a speaker might browse the "grilles and nets" sections and find composites made with yarns or other fibres she would never find browsing polymers. The physical forms are another method we explore in this project, but in a more simplified manner. User interviews I did during the project showed that these categories were the most meaninful that could capture all: surfaces & surface treatments, solids, powders/grains, liquids/gels, and strings/tubes.
In parallel to the traditional materials families, the MATto materials library *also* organizes materials more in line with fabrication methods and physical forms that are recognizable and useful to designers. Users can also navigate the archive by browsing collections put together based on their physical form: e.g. slabs, tubes & pipes, foam and expanded materials, textiles, grilles & nets, surface treatments, gels and pastes, grains/flakes & powders, and so on. This is an interesting approach that allows designers to consider different alternatives for a part of a product. For example someone designing a speaker might browse the "grilles and nets" sections and find composites made with yarns or other fibres she would never find browsing polymers. The physical forms are another method we explore in this project, but in a more simplified manner. User interviews I did during the project showed that fewer categories could include all, and be more meaningful to work with. The categories adopter were surfaces and surface treatments, solids and spatial forms, powders and grains, liquids and gels, and strings and tubes.
![](../images/matto.jpg)*Phycisal forms and material families alongside one another, Screenshot from their website, 2020*
......@@ -126,73 +134,54 @@ In parallel to the traditional materials families (wood, metals, etc) the MATto
**Tactile experience of materials**
The ways of categorizing and describing material samples listed above are useful and easy to implement in text-based databases. But can only give a limited feel for the aesthetics and tactility of a material.
The physical [Material Archive](https://viftrup.com/textilelab) developed at Textile Lab Waag, by Cecilia Raspanti and designed by Maria Viftrup and others from 2016 onwards continues to be one of the most effective ways of offering alternatives to designers. Not only because it offers visitors to meet the materials, and touch, smell and manipulate them, but it also allows them to take them home. Not in the sense that they can take the materials home, but because the recipe and technique to recreate the material is documented on the back of the label attached to the sample. Of course the memory of the tactile experience fades in a way that photographs and words cannot recover. What might be other ways to document tactility?
The physical [Material Archive](https://viftrup.com/textilelab) developed at Textile Lab Waag, by Cecilia Raspanti and designed by Maria Viftrup and others from 2016 onwards has proven to be an effective way of offering alternatives to designers. Not only because it offers visitors to meet the materials, and touch, smell and manipulate them, and imagine how this might be used; but it also allows them to take them home. Not in the sense that they can take the materials home, but because the recipe and technique to recreate the material is documented on the back of the label attached to the sample. Of course the memory of the tactile experience fades in a way that photographs and words cannot recover. What might be other ways to document tactility?
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/243628535" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/243628535">Material Archive promo - by Maria Viftrup</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/waagmakers">Makers of Waag</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Their archive is divided into "raw" and "made" materials and a loosely organised but effective tagging system to indicate what kind of material a given sample is. The downside here, is that the Material Archive at Textile Lab Waag does not have any kind of online accessible version of the archive, and updating recipes when new insights are formed can be an issue, as a recipe will always be tied to that particular tangible sample. This project hopes to contribute to their efforts by suggesting ways to bring this amazing archive online.
Their archive is divided into "raw" and "made" materials and a loosely organised but effective tagging system to indicate what kind of material a given sample is. The downside here, is that the Material Archive at Textile Lab Waag does not have any kind of online accessible version of the archive, and updating recipes when new insights are formed can be an issue, as a recipe will always be tied to that particular tangible sample. Bringin this archive online in a meaningful way is one of the objectives of this lab.
![](../images/institutemaking.jpg)*The materials library at the Institute of Making, UCL London, Loes Bogers, 2020*
The [Institute of Making](https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/) at UCL London has a materials library with another interesting approach that lets go of classification systems altogether. Their exhibition space continuously changes to offer fresh perspectives on materials, and can vary from chronological ordering, or it can be an exhibition around controversial materials. The story is the organizing factor here, and always depends on the availability of staff and slots to visit the archive. They offer a valuable (design-)historical perspective on materials, but do not organize or offer any practical information for manufacturing and manipulating them.
It is difficult to separate the material from the form however. Most of the "materials" in this library are already *applied*. They have already taken shape as a functional object, which indicates the potential of a material, but it can also make it challenging to disentangle the form and possible functions/shapes/forms. This library contains a lot of materials that would be hard to impossible to recreate without specialist tools and knowledge, but evokes interesting questions as to what tools and (lack of) access to them enable us to do.
The [Institute of Making](https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/) at UCL London has a materials library with another interesting approach that lets go of classification systems altogether. Their exhibition space continuously changes to offer fresh perspectives on materials, and can vary from chronological ordering, or it can be an exhibition around controversial materials. As such, they offer a valuable (design-)historical perspective on materials, where the story is the organizing factor. But accessing that story depends on the availability of staff and slots to visit the archive. The Institute of Making does not organize or offer any practical information for manufacturing and manipulating them. Sustainability is not a focal point here, any material can be included in this library.
It is difficult to separate the material from the form however. Most of the "materials" in this library are already *applied*. Materials here are not semi-formed but have already taken shape as a functional object, which indicates the potential of a material, but it can also make it challenging to disentangle the form and possible functions/shapes/forms. This library contains a lot of materials that would be hard - and undesirable - to recreate without specialist tools and knowledge, but evokes interesting questions as to what tools enable us to do.
###3. Renewable and DIY: Material Activism
We should also take note of the work other critical designers have done before in the realm of materials research & development. Many designers have develped their own versions of materials, and great applications for them in their design practice. And there are dozens of beautiful big books to showcase them. Although they may create *awareness* and inspiration when it comes to these approaches to design and materials, most often, the exact recipe or process is not disclosed. Even more problematic is that it is very common for a designer to use a crafts or heritage technique and presents it as though it has been their discovery, paying no credit to the cultural history such practices emerged from. Many of the techniques hailed as sustainable material innovatinos are in fact rediscovered old techniques.
We might also take note of the work other critical designers have done before us in the realm of materials research & development. Many designers have develped their own versions of materials, and great applications for them in their design practice. And there are dozens of coffee table books to showcase beautifully. Although they create *awareness* and inspiration when it comes to these approaches to design and materials, very often the exact recipe or process is not disclosed. It is also problematic when designers use a crafts or heritage technique and presents it as though it has been their discovery, paying no credit to the cultural history such practices emerged from. Many of the techniques hailed as sustainable material innovations are in fact rediscovered old techniques. Perhaps we could consider how we might acknowledge and pay respect to the cultural origins of different practices.
**Open-source material activism**
Miriam Ribul's framing of DIY bioplastics as material activism (2013) that should be open-source is pivotal here. With this open access publication Ribul shares 4 basic recipes for bioplastics that can be created at home with ingredients bought at a super market. She argues for collaborative approaches to radical imaginaries when it comes to the issue of our collective plastic addiction. The focus on *only renewable* ingredient is unique to the approaches listed so far (which may come as a surprise). Such a strict approach, with *only* DIY recipes, and simple, renewable ingredients (which we also see in Materiom, below) is essential when it comes to rethinking materials. We cannot yield to the temptations of high-tech materials alone, but must continue to push for *sustainable* approaches to high-tech only.
Miriam Ribul's framing of DIY bioplastics as *open-source material activism* (2013) is pivotal here. With this open access publication Ribul shares 4 basic recipes for bioplastics that can be created at home with ingredients bought at a super market. She argues for collaborative approaches to radical imaginaries when it comes to the issue of our collective plastic addiction. The focus on *only renewable* ingredients is unique to the approaches listed so far. Such a strict approach, with *only* DIY recipes, and simple, renewable ingredients (which we also see in Materiom, below) is essential when it comes to rethinking materials. We cannot yield to the temptations of high-tech materials alone, but must continue to push for *sustainable* approaches, also where advanced fabrication techniques are concerned.
The DIY recipe book is a popular format which we also see in Clara Davis - [*The Secrets of Bioplastic*](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/the_secrets_of_bioplastic_) (2017), Margaret Dunne's [*The Bioplastics Cookbook: A Catalogue of Bioplastics Recipes*](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/bioplastic_cook_book_3) (2018). It demystifies the processes of material design, keeping the form very rudimentary, allows it to stay open to interpretation and further development. Although it opens up a wealth of information with this format, they remain static. How can we make this kind of development ongoing? Another downside to these publications is that they are unlikely to go very in depth in terms of tooling options, drying time, etcetera because there's an incentive to keep recipes short and fit them on a page or a spread. On the other hand that is exactly what makes them accessible.
The DIY recipe book is a popular format which we also see in Clara Davis - [*The Secrets of Bioplastic*](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/the_secrets_of_bioplastic_) (2017), Margaret Dunne's [*The Bioplastics Cookbook: A Catalogue of Bioplastics Recipes*](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/bioplastic_cook_book_3) (2018). It demystifies the processes of material design, keeping the form very rudimentary, which allows room for other applications and further development. Although it opens up a wealth of information with this format, they remain static. How can we make this kind of development ongoing? Another downside to this publication format is that they go into less detail in terms of tooling options, drying time, and so on, because there's an incentive to keep recipes short and fit them on a page or a spread. On the other hand that is of course exactly what makes them accessible.
Lastly, there seems to be a danger with such recipe books because they often take a narrow focus for the sake of clarity and coherence. As a historical parrallel: the "natural textile dyeing" books from the 1970s would celebrate and appreciate nature's splendor, while including heavy metals and toxic compounds as mordants in their recipes. In a similar way, we see that some recipe books eagerly consider renewable alternative to petrol-based plastics, but don't find it worth mentioning that animal-based products such as gelatine might be an issue as well.
Lastly, there seems to be a danger with such recipe books because they often take a narrow focus for the sake of clarity and coherence. As a historical parrallel: the "natural textile dyeing" books from the 1970s would celebrate and appreciate nature's splendor, while including heavy metals and toxic compounds as mordants in their recipes. In a similar way, we see that some recipe books eagerly consider renewable alternatives to petrol-based plastics, but fail to mention that animal-based products such as gelatine might be an issue to be considered too. No material will be perfect or without issues, but making the space and taking the time to consider the arguments is essential.
###4. Collaborative databases
[Materiom](https://materiom.org/) is a great initiative that takes the open-source, DIY, renewable-only approach, and makes efforts to collect and present recipes in a beautifully designed environment that is accessible online. Users can add their own recipes so the archive can continue to grow. Beautiful photography makes these materials very appealing and desirable as a design material as well.
In the same way that family recipes are contested, and cooks claim to have the "ultimate" recipe to a ragu bolognese, material recipes will be contested. We've seen this in the myriad ways people craft and form materials in the context of this Fabricademy course. Great value could be added if collaborative databases also facilitated debate, contestation and forking of certain recipes. With peer reviews and rating we might be able start to see patterns as to which technique work best for whom. Where are they in the world? What are their environmental conditions and which type of which ingredient are they using?
[Materiom](https://materiom.org/) is a great initiative that takes the open-source, DIY, renewable-only approach, and makes efforts to collect and present recipes in a beautifully designed environment that is accessible online. Users can add their own recipes so the archive can continue to grow. Beautiful photography makes these materials very appealing and desirable as a design material.
A platform like Materiom might also benefit from acknowledging more explicitly where these crafts practices are coming from, and taking a more critical stance as to when something is *more sustainable*. As no material is perfect or without issues, we need more concrete handles for assessing the ethics of using certain materials in particular context or applications. Expanding the amount and type of entry fields required when submitting a new recipe could potentially help the community of "material nerds" deepen their understanding of what they are working with, so material activism extends beyond the ecological, into the social, cultural, political, and technical.
In the same way that family recipes are contested, and cooks claim to have the "ultimate" recipe to a ragu bolognese, material recipes will be contestedand pose dilemmas in terms of sustainability, techniques and origins. We've seen this in the myriad ways people craft and form materials in the context of this Fabricademy course. Great value could be added if collaborative databases also facilitated debate, feedback and forking of recipes. With detailed peer reviews and simple rating tools we might be able start to see patterns as to which technique work best for whom. Where are they in the world? What are their environmental conditions and which type of ingredient are they using?
A platform like Materiom might also benefit from acknowledging more explicitly where these crafts practices are coming from, and taking a more critical stance as to when something is *more sustainable*. As no material is perfect or without issues, we need more concrete handles for assessing the ethics of using certain materials in particular context or applications. Expanding the amount and type of entry fields required when submitting a new recipe could potentially help our community of "material nerds" deepen their understanding of what they are working with, so material activism extends beyond the ecological, into the social, cultural, political, and technical.
![](../images/stopmotionstand.jpg)*Shooting a tactility impression for archiving, Loes Bogers, 2020*
## Archiving New Naturals: A Manifesto
*As a starting point for the project, I wrote this manifesto for the obsessively curious, the critical makers, the material nerds. Now let's keep going. By Loes Bogers, 2 April 2020*
- **we need *ongoing* material activism**, especially in the face of smart and advanced materials increasing popularity. What could be methods to continue to demystify material craftsmanship as materials research evolves and becomes highly technical and less accessible due to increasing complexity as well as patenting intellectual property?
- **if plactics are not the only issue, then bioplastics are not the only solution**, dyeing and chemical treatments and finishes are equally if hazardous for the environment and workers. Biodegradable, or even biocompostable plastics don't solve all our problems
- **designers and makers need to get comfortable drawing from different fields of knowledge** and their methods like empirical approaches and systematic ways of experimenting and documenting, such as in fields of biology, chemistry and other "hard" sciences.
- but we need to be equally **aware of history, cultural heritage and the politics of design materials** in terms of their cultural history, as well as their socio-economic and ecological implications.
- **we need open-source material knowledge**: if resources are part of the commons, then so are material kowledge and craftsmanship, but we need to contiue to build it up and keep it alive.
- **make materials from scratch**: as this will bring the entire ecology of material knowledge, production, distribution and legislation into view and open to questioning;
- **cultivate material craftsmanship** and understand the importance time and controlled environments effect on a material's growth/curing/drying. But equally, learn to work *with* any material (rather than expecting it to bend to your will).
- look for and learn to appreciate **locally abundant resources** and their potential, and start to see them appear in very unlikely places;
- **spend time with materials and resources**, attention and dedication to the cooking/curing/drying or growth process will allow you to start seeing alternative uses, options, applications.
- **learn from practices from all over the world** to strengthen your own locally centered practice (not yielding to the temptation of turning that wealth of knowledge into a candy shop);
- **ask questions to stay with the trouble** of socalled sustainable materials, rather than setting out to find silver bullet solutions.
- **document and share** your process, research and outcomes using formats to describe their sensory and technical properties, and give an impression of their tactile, and auditory qualities.
##View online at
https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/archiving_new_naturals/
##References
- **Materials ecoefficiency and perception** by Beatrice Lerma, in Proceedings: CESB 2010 Prague - Central Europe towards Sustainable Building 'From Theory to Practice', 2010: pp. 1-8.
- **Wat is composteerbaar?** (EN: What is compostable?), Online composteerwijzer, Vlaco, n.d. [link](https://www.vlaco.be/thuiskringlopen/thuiscomposteren/wat-is-composteerbaar)
- **DAMADEI: Design & Advanced Materials as a Driver of European Innovation**, by Damadei project committee, funded by the European Commission, 2013.
- **Institute of Making - Fourth Year Report 2016-2017**, by the Institute of Making, UCL London, 2017: [link](https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/about)
- **Material Driven Design (MDD): A Method for Design for Material Experiences** by Elvin Karana, Bahar Barati, Valentina Rognoli, Anouk Zeeuw van der Laan, in the International Journal of Design, Vol 9. No 2, 2015: [link](http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/1965)
- **Materials ecoefficiency and perception** by Beatrice Lerma, in Proceedings: CESB 2010 Prague - Central Europe towards Sustainable Building 'From Theory to Practice', 2010: pp. 1-8.
- **Materiology: The Creative Industry’s Guide to Materials and Technologies** by Daniël Kula & Elodie Ternaux, Basel: Birkhäuser, 2014.
- **Institute of Making - Fourth Year Report 2016-2017**, by the Institute of Making, UCL London, 2017: [link](https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/about)
- **Recipes for Material Activism** by Miriam Ribul, 2014, via issuu [link](https://issuu.com/miriamribul/docs/miriam_ribul_recipes_for_material_a)
- **Research Book Bioplastics** by Juliette Pepin, 2014, via issuu [link](https://issuu.com/juliettepepin/docs/bookletbioplastic)
- **The Secrets of Bioplastic** by Clara Davis (Fabtex, IAAC, Fab Lab Barcelona), 2017, [link](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/the_secrets_of_bioplastic_).
- **The Bioplastics Cookbook: A Catalogue of Bioplastics Recipes** by Margaret Dunne for Fabtextiles, 2018, [link](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/bioplastic_cook_book_3)
- **DAMADEI: Design & Advanced Materials as a Driver of European Innovation**, by Damadei project committee, funded by the European Commission, 2013.
- **Material Archive** by TextileLab Waag, Amsterdam (Cecilia Raspanti, Maria Viftrup and many others), 2016-ongoing.
- **The Secrets of Bioplastic** by Clara Davis (Fabtex, IAAC, Fab Lab Barcelona), 2017, [link](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/the_secrets_of_bioplastic_).
- **Material Archive** by TextileLab Waag, Amsterdam (Cecilia Raspanti, Maria Viftrup and others), 2016-ongoing.
\ No newline at end of file
#Archiving New Naturals
##towards a context-aware global material commons: what's in *your* local archive?
![](../images/pics-insta3.jpg)*Building a local archive, Loes Bogers, 2020*
**The goal of this project was to explore and develop simple methods for open archiving of socalled "new naturals"\*. The outcomes are developed to work toward a collaborative, global - but context-aware - material archive....**
- that is not only ecologically, but also historically, culturally, geographically aware;
- that can extend material activism beyond bioplastics alone;
- highlights what a material *does*: its properties and its sensorial qualities in text, tags and (moving) image.
- that promotes an open-source attitude to the development of design materials, and credits the work done by others before you;
- that acknowledges all those practical questions: from buying the right kind of ingredients, all the way to tips and tricks for that challenging phase of controlled drying and curing materials to its "final" form;
- that is explained in layman's terms, demystifying ingredients and processes without oversimplifying them;
- imaging collaborative open archiving that can facilitate critique, contestations, suggestions, updates and reviews from peers;
- offering a package that allows novices to learn, and educators to get started in a systematic way...
- ... and encourages experienced material designers and "alchemists" to continue asking the hard critical questions regarding sustainability, resource and waste streams and share those considerations with each recipe or ingredient.
\* *note: "new" or "other" naturals is not a thing (yet). But the word is sometimes used in material archives as container category for materials that don't fit the traditional material families of wood, hide, metal, glass, plastics, stone, etcetera. New or other naturals is a left-over tag to indicate composite or otherwise hybrid materials made from renewable natural resources such as food waste, plant fibres etcetera.*
![](../images/pics-insta1.jpg)*Working on a recipe, Loes Bogers, 2020*
##Outcomes
The outcomes of the selection are threefold: 1) a number of documentation tools and templates, in an effort to ask new questions when developing processes and combining materials; 2) a curated recipe selection from best practices in labs all over the world, that offer a comprehensive starting point for exploring "new naturals" in e.g. (informal) learning contexts; and 3) suggestions for structuring and building on this knowledge in open, collaborative ways, with critical considerations of technical, sensorial as well as cultural, historical and ecological aspects.
###1. Tools and templates for documenting "new naturals"
- [**a list of tools**](../tools) needed to start your a local, physical collection material samples (a local physical archive, e.g. in a university lab)
- [**a video tutorial**](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/templates/tactilityvideo/) for capturing the tactile experience of material samples
- [**a template for new recipes**](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/templates/new_recipe/), to help you capture the entire process, while asking the hard contextual questions and document relevant considerations when developing new recipes and consideration applications and scale. Colleague fabricademer Beatriz Sandini tested and used the templates to document the recipes of her project [Ephemeral Fashion Lab](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/beatriz.sandini/projects/0-final-project/).
- [**template to add new ingredients**](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/templates/new_ingredient/), helping you ask the hard questions and document relevant considerations for adopting new ingredients and additives, also in terms of upscaling.
- [**templates for labels**](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/projects/templates/labels/) to create your own physical archive with material samples (building on the work of Maria Viftrup who designed the original sample label designs for TextileLab Waag).
![](../images/pics-insta2.jpg)*Measuring and logging shrinkage, Loes Bogers, 2020*
###2. Core recipes for starting your own *new naturals* sample archive
[A collection of 24 foundational recipes](../recipes) is curated and documented here, to allow anyone to start a physical sample archive with "new natural" materials. Two additional criteria were used to make the selection: it should include a range of techniques, and result in a variety of physical forms to accommodate makers and designers from different fields from product design as well as textiles and fashion.
**Selected based on local abundance**
Since this project was developed in the Netherlands, the consideration was to take local abundance as a starting point for any physical archive of material samples. The samples made for this project will be used at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences to help design students explore new natural materials through making. so it seems fitting to set the example of starting by looking for *local waste streams* to source ingredients, supplemented with ingredients that are *locally produced* as much as possible (ideally within the Netherlands or in neighbouring countries, alternatively within Europe). This also means that starting a physical sample archive elsewhere could and maybe *should* look different! What will be *your* list of 24 recipes using resources abundant in your location?
**A variety of biofabrication techniques**
The collection contains different techniques in biofabration to give a novice material designer a wide range of methods to explore the potential of the natural resources around them. I want to stress that these recipes are not my inventions, nor are they new. They are my personal variations at best, and this part of the work is heavily indebted to the knowledge collected and created in and around the Fabricademy network and other design and DIY biology communities, and also builds upon the (physical) Material Archive at Textile Lab Waag that was realised by Cecilia Raspanti, Maria Viftrup and others in 2016-2017. Where it was known and identifyable, the related work and cultural origins of the techniques are referenced in each recipe. Techniques include:
- ***cooking*** bioplastics
- ***curing*** bioplastics with natural compounds (e.g. calcificatino of algae-based plastic)
- ***extracting*** natural pigments in the form of inks and dyes
- ***growing*** microbial cultures for leather alternatives and bacterial dyes
- ***crystallization*** of minerals
- ***re-use*** of biodegradable plastics such as PLA
- and examples of how all of the above may be combined by means of making ***composite materials***
**A variety of physical forms**
Secondly, the selection of 24 *techniques* is made based on the extent to which they allow material makers to craft a variety of *physical forms*. Considering which forms a material can take is equally a part of material learning and exploration, and is a starting point for understanding how they might be processed further by thermoforming, lasercutting, extruding, sewing, welding etcetera. The recipes result in:
- **surfaces** (flat materials, slabs, sheets)
- **strings** (that may be used as yarns or for additive manufacturing)
- **liquids** (water and alcohol based inks and dyes)
- **solids** (including 3D solids but also structurally open spatial forms like moulded composites)
- **surface treatments** (e.g. forming crystals on a substrate, direct dyeing with bacteria)
###3. A features wishlist for an online materials repository
[This design brief](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YRHikbOnj0WLbVhc2BELcTUBk30rFFGOpYzF1ra7Jp4/edit?usp=sharing)
suggests an imagined system for a context-aware, collaborative materials database. Developing such a system is outside the scope of this project, and connecting to existing initiatives may be a better avenue to explore. The design of the system proposed here:
- **enables peer feedback**, ratings and constructive criticism
- its logics of organisation and additional required fields can promote and **add a critical angle on the way we consider new naturals** as material alternatives. It allows users to filter on the technical and sensorial properties as well as constituent ingredients *and* other tags pulled from the fields of the recipe and ingredient forms. The questions suggested can lead to considerations and tags that may all become relevant filtering criteria: such as *local abundance* in your area. Most *successful recipes*, or *most contested* ones that could be further researched.
- the way the datastructures are linked **allow for analysis of popular recipes and correlations** with geographical regions, environmental conditions and local abundance of certain ingredients
- the suggested **features may be included in existing archives (preferred)** or be a starting point for a new initiative.
###Future development
The templates and the starter recipes are envisioned as tools that can already contribute to building up local, offline communities who want to explore and become more aware of new natural material alternatives through making. This can be used already in informal learning contexts as well as (higher) education.
Online repositories can facilitate communities of material explorers - from novice to expert - in constructing not only new materials, but also further the critical understanding of the processes and resources involved, and learn from techniques and arguments developed elsewhere. Of course for this to take effect the suggestions need to be realised in an existing database, or a new one might be developed. Future steps involve:
- **realising the online database** further with a designer and developer or connecting to existing initiatives (preferred)
- research and/or develop and add **methods for DIY material testing**, like testing tensile strength, chemical resistance etc.
- create well-researched **ingredient pages** for all the ingredients used (for the moment only the entry for glycerine is there as an example).
- possibly add a **section for open-source DIY tools** for fabrication
- **further testing of the formats as tools for learning** in higher education and fabricademy, gathering peer feedback from peers
![](../images/pics-insta4.jpg)*Documenting a recipe, Loes Bogers, 2020*
##State of the art
We are in a moment where more and more designers are starting to recognize the importance of materials and unlearning our wasteful and toxic addictions to plastic and other common design materials. This is a wildly interesting field that can be approached from many perspectives. This project contributes less to the *material engineering* side of materials research, but is more focused on the DIY, open-source approaches to it that can be useful for designers and makers to be used in critical material imaginaries.
Below is a discussion of a small selection from the current state of the art. This project is hugely indebted to each of them and the amazing work the people behind it have done. The critiques here come from a commitment to push the work further and extend the work others did before us. If you feel like your work should be acknowledged here or in the recipes, please contact me at l[dot]bogers[at]hva[dot]nl.
###1. Classifying "new natural" materials
**Material District**
Commercial material archives are committed to showcasing new materials and rethinking ways of presenting material innovations (which can either be high-tech and innovative, or more innovative in the sense of sustainability). [Material District](https://materialdistrict.com/) is a match-making platform for organisations involved in R&D of materials, and design professionals. This organization hosts an annual materials fair in the Netherlands, and hosts an online archive, where new materials are logged together with some technical material properties, and information about manufacturers. New materials can be showcased at a cost of €100 per year.
Their role in matchmaking R&D with designers and industry is important and pivotal in promoting the uptake of new materials (Damadei, 2019).
But the classification systems continue to rely on traditional material families like wood, ceramics, and metals, and except for the container category of "other naturals". New and often hybrid materials require us to rethink such categories (Kula & Ternaux 2019: p. 337-338), but new models are still lacking.
One avenue might be to explore and make explicit the tactile qualities of materials, alongside their technical properties. Material District does this in a summarized way (see image below) that gives an overview of the material that is accessible to novices. Although their online repository is well thought through and comprehensive, the organisation continues to cater to clients need to get a "feel" for the different materials on offer, by organizing visits to their archive and by hosting a materials fair annually.
![](../images/materialdistrict.jpg)*Properties listed for each material on the Material District Archive, screenshot of their website, 2020*
**Sensory descriptors and categorization**
Besides the inspiration taken from Material District, the archive put forward here incorporates the sensory descriptors and categories proposed by Beatrice Lerma in her article "Materials ecoefficiency and perception. Proceedings" (2010: pp. 1-8). Discussing an existing reference tool called SensoTact, she describes a sensory vocabular to describe materials (e.g. stickiness, rough/smooth, hot/cold) in addition to parameters to evaluate socalled *material eco-compatibility*. [MATto](http://www.matto.design/en/home/), the materials library and consultancy service at the Politecnico di Torino has adopted this approach (but is not open to the public). To describe relative sustainability, Lerma suggests to discuss parameters such as toxicity, energy involved in production, shelf life, and distance to source.
Material archives used in the context of polytecnic institutes generally take a focus that is more on the technical and engineering qualities of materials, with optical and tactile qualities being secondary: a small element within this much larger technical spectrum. It is argued however these sensorial qualities that can be pivotal in material acceptance and we need methods to account for them (Karana, Barati, Rognoli & Zeeuw van der Laan 2015): rather than organizing materials based on what they *are* (wood, metal, glass and so on) we might consider other systems along the lines of what they can *do* and *elicit* in us. Their work and methods are successfully finding their way into higher education in art and design schools in the Netherlands. What the approach suggested here might offer, is are the prompts that aim to instill a cultural, political and historical awareness of materials and their constintuent compounds.
**Physical forms vs. material families**
In parallel to the traditional materials families (wood, metals, etc) the MATto materials library *also* organizes materials more in line with fabrication methods and physical forms that are recognizable and useful to designers. Users can also navigate the archive by browsing collections put together based on their physical form: e.g. slabs, tubes & pipes, foam and expanded materials, textiles, grilles & nets, surface treatments, gels and pastes, grains/flakes & powders, and so on. This is an interesting approach that allows designers to consider different alternatives for a part of a product. For example someone designing a speaker might browse the "grilles and nets" sections and find composites made with yarns or other fibres she would never find browsing polymers. The physical forms are another method we explore in this project, but in a more simplified manner. User interviews I did during the project showed that these categories were the most meaninful that could capture all: surfaces & surface treatments, solids, powders/grains, liquids/gels, and strings/tubes.
![](../images/matto.jpg)*Phycisal forms and material families alongside one another, Screenshot from their website, 2020*
###2. Physical Material Archives
**Tactile experience of materials**
The ways of categorizing and describing material samples listed above are useful and easy to implement in text-based databases. But can only give a limited feel for the aesthetics and tactility of a material.
The physical [Material Archive](https://viftrup.com/textilelab) developed at Textile Lab Waag, by Cecilia Raspanti and designed by Maria Viftrup and others from 2016 onwards continues to be one of the most effective ways of offering alternatives to designers. Not only because it offers visitors to meet the materials, and touch, smell and manipulate them, but it also allows them to take them home. Not in the sense that they can take the materials home, but because the recipe and technique to recreate the material is documented on the back of the label attached to the sample. Of course the memory of the tactile experience fades in a way that photographs and words cannot recover. What might be other ways to document tactility?
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/243628535" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/243628535">Material Archive promo - by Maria Viftrup</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/waagmakers">Makers of Waag</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Their archive is divided into "raw" and "made" materials and a loosely organised but effective tagging system to indicate what kind of material a given sample is. The downside here, is that the Material Archive at Textile Lab Waag does not have any kind of online accessible version of the archive, and updating recipes when new insights are formed can be an issue, as a recipe will always be tied to that particular tangible sample. This project hopes to contribute to their efforts by suggesting ways to bring this amazing archive online.
![](../images/institutemaking.jpg)*The materials library at the Institute of Making, UCL London, Loes Bogers, 2020*
The [Institute of Making](https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/) at UCL London has a materials library with another interesting approach that lets go of classification systems altogether. Their exhibition space continuously changes to offer fresh perspectives on materials, and can vary from chronological ordering, or it can be an exhibition around controversial materials. The story is the organizing factor here, and always depends on the availability of staff and slots to visit the archive. They offer a valuable (design-)historical perspective on materials, but do not organize or offer any practical information for manufacturing and manipulating them.
It is difficult to separate the material from the form however. Most of the "materials" in this library are already *applied*. They have already taken shape as a functional object, which indicates the potential of a material, but it can also make it challenging to disentangle the form and possible functions/shapes/forms. This library contains a lot of materials that would be hard to impossible to recreate without specialist tools and knowledge, but evokes interesting questions as to what tools and (lack of) access to them enable us to do.
###3. Renewable and DIY: Material Activism
We should also take note of the work other critical designers have done before in the realm of materials research & development. Many designers have develped their own versions of materials, and great applications for them in their design practice. And there are dozens of beautiful big books to showcase them. Although they may create *awareness* and inspiration when it comes to these approaches to design and materials, most often, the exact recipe or process is not disclosed. Even more problematic is that it is very common for a designer to use a crafts or heritage technique and presents it as though it has been their discovery, paying no credit to the cultural history such practices emerged from. Many of the techniques hailed as sustainable material innovatinos are in fact rediscovered old techniques.
**Open-source material activism**
Miriam Ribul's framing of DIY bioplastics as material activism (2013) that should be open-source is pivotal here. With this open access publication Ribul shares 4 basic recipes for bioplastics that can be created at home with ingredients bought at a super market. She argues for collaborative approaches to radical imaginaries when it comes to the issue of our collective plastic addiction. The focus on *only renewable* ingredient is unique to the approaches listed so far (which may come as a surprise). Such a strict approach, with *only* DIY recipes, and simple, renewable ingredients (which we also see in Materiom, below) is essential when it comes to rethinking materials. We cannot yield to the temptations of high-tech materials alone, but must continue to push for *sustainable* approaches to high-tech only.
The DIY recipe book is a popular format which we also see in Clara Davis - [*The Secrets of Bioplastic*](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/the_secrets_of_bioplastic_) (2017), Margaret Dunne's [*The Bioplastics Cookbook: A Catalogue of Bioplastics Recipes*](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/bioplastic_cook_book_3) (2018). It demystifies the processes of material design, keeping the form very rudimentary, allows it to stay open to interpretation and further development. Although it opens up a wealth of information with this format, they remain static. How can we make this kind of development ongoing? Another downside to these publications is that they are unlikely to go very in depth in terms of tooling options, drying time, etcetera because there's an incentive to keep recipes short and fit them on a page or a spread. On the other hand that is exactly what makes them accessible.
Lastly, there seems to be a danger with such recipe books because they often take a narrow focus for the sake of clarity and coherence. As a historical parrallel: the "natural textile dyeing" books from the 1970s would celebrate and appreciate nature's splendor, while including heavy metals and toxic compounds as mordants in their recipes. In a similar way, we see that some recipe books eagerly consider renewable alternative to petrol-based plastics, but don't find it worth mentioning that animal-based products such as gelatine might be an issue as well.
###4. Collaborative databases
[Materiom](https://materiom.org/) is a great initiative that takes the open-source, DIY, renewable-only approach, and makes efforts to collect and present recipes in a beautifully designed environment that is accessible online. Users can add their own recipes so the archive can continue to grow. Beautiful photography makes these materials very appealing and desirable as a design material as well.
In the same way that family recipes are contested, and cooks claim to have the "ultimate" recipe to a ragu bolognese, material recipes will be contested. We've seen this in the myriad ways people craft and form materials in the context of this Fabricademy course. Great value could be added if collaborative databases also facilitated debate, contestation and forking of certain recipes. With peer reviews and rating we might be able start to see patterns as to which technique work best for whom. Where are they in the world? What are their environmental conditions and which type of which ingredient are they using?
A platform like Materiom might also benefit from acknowledging more explicitly where these crafts practices are coming from, and taking a more critical stance as to when something is *more sustainable*. As no material is perfect or without issues, we need more concrete handles for assessing the ethics of using certain materials in particular context or applications. Expanding the amount and type of entry fields required when submitting a new recipe could potentially help the community of "material nerds" deepen their understanding of what they are working with, so material activism extends beyond the ecological, into the social, cultural, political, and technical.
![](../images/stopmotionstand.jpg)*Shooting a tactility impression for archiving, Loes Bogers, 2020*
## Archiving New Naturals: A Manifesto
*As a starting point for the project, I wrote this manifesto for the obsessively curious, the critical makers, the material nerds. Now let's keep going. By Loes Bogers, 2 April 2020*
- **we need *ongoing* material activism**, especially in the face of smart and advanced materials increasing popularity. What could be methods to continue to demystify material craftsmanship as materials research evolves and becomes highly technical and less accessible due to increasing complexity as well as patenting intellectual property?
- **if plactics are not the only issue, then bioplastics are not the only solution**, dyeing and chemical treatments and finishes are equally if hazardous for the environment and workers. Biodegradable, or even biocompostable plastics don't solve all our problems
- **designers and makers need to get comfortable drawing from different fields of knowledge** and their methods like empirical approaches and systematic ways of experimenting and documenting, such as in fields of biology, chemistry and other "hard" sciences.
- but we need to be equally **aware of history, cultural heritage and the politics of design materials** in terms of their cultural history, as well as their socio-economic and ecological implications.
- **we need open-source material knowledge**: if resources are part of the commons, then so are material kowledge and craftsmanship, but we need to contiue to build it up and keep it alive.
- **make materials from scratch**: as this will bring the entire ecology of material knowledge, production, distribution and legislation into view and open to questioning;
- **cultivate material craftsmanship** and understand the importance time and controlled environments effect on a material's growth/curing/drying. But equally, learn to work *with* any material (rather than expecting it to bend to your will).
- look for and learn to appreciate **locally abundant resources** and their potential, and start to see them appear in very unlikely places;
- **spend time with materials and resources**, attention and dedication to the cooking/curing/drying or growth process will allow you to start seeing alternative uses, options, applications.
- **learn from practices from all over the world** to strengthen your own locally centered practice (not yielding to the temptation of turning that wealth of knowledge into a candy shop);
- **ask questions to stay with the trouble** of socalled sustainable materials, rather than setting out to find silver bullet solutions.
- **document and share** your process, research and outcomes using formats to describe their sensory and technical properties, and give an impression of their tactile, and auditory qualities.
##References
- **Materials ecoefficiency and perception** by Beatrice Lerma, in Proceedings: CESB 2010 Prague - Central Europe towards Sustainable Building 'From Theory to Practice', 2010: pp. 1-8.
- **Material Driven Design (MDD): A Method for Design for Material Experiences** by Elvin Karana, Bahar Barati, Valentina Rognoli, Anouk Zeeuw van der Laan, in the International Journal of Design, Vol 9. No 2, 2015: [link](http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/1965)
- **Materiology: The Creative Industry’s Guide to Materials and Technologies** by Daniël Kula & Elodie Ternaux, Basel: Birkhäuser, 2014.
- **Institute of Making - Fourth Year Report 2016-2017**, by the Institute of Making, UCL London, 2017: [link](https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/about)
- **Recipes for Material Activism** by Miriam Ribul, 2014, via issuu [link](https://issuu.com/miriamribul/docs/miriam_ribul_recipes_for_material_a)
- **Research Book Bioplastics** by Juliette Pepin, 2014, via issuu [link](https://issuu.com/juliettepepin/docs/bookletbioplastic)
- **The Secrets of Bioplastic** by Clara Davis (Fabtex, IAAC, Fab Lab Barcelona), 2017, [link](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/the_secrets_of_bioplastic_).
- **The Bioplastics Cookbook: A Catalogue of Bioplastics Recipes** by Margaret Dunne for Fabtextiles, 2018, [link](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/bioplastic_cook_book_3)
- **DAMADEI: Design & Advanced Materials as a Driver of European Innovation**, by Damadei project committee, funded by the European Commission, 2013.
- **Material Archive** by TextileLab Waag, Amsterdam (Cecilia Raspanti, Maria Viftrup and many others), 2016-ongoing.
#INGREDIENTS & CONSUMABLES
![](../images/ingredients-2.jpg)*Some ingredients you'll need, Loes Bogers, 2020*
The recipes listed on this website can be used as a starting point for material makers in the Netherlands and around. Consider per ingredient if this is something that is locally abundant in your area. If not, try finding something that could substitute that ingredient to make it your own, and follow the local natural resources around *you*.
With these 40 ingredients you can list all the 25 recipes suggested as a material archive starter, with a suggestion for a local supplier and approximation of the cost per unit. Check out the tools section as well, this list contains disposables only. For under € 500 you can purchase all the ingredients listed below, and most will last many rounds of experiments. The prices listed per material sample in the recipe section are based on the prices below. Of course it is possible to buy smaller packages of most ingredients, this will be *relatively* expensive, but wise if you are planning to just try it out.
##Locally abundant ingredients to collect
Selecting the 24 recipes to start with in the Netherlands were mostly motivated by what is abundant here locally. So the ingredients listed here involve food waste and byproducts that ideally should not be purchased, but sourced by accessing waste streams or collecting leftovers. If you start out doing this from home, it really helps to collect nice glass jars, pots and bowls for collecting and drying food waste. Remove the labels and give them a nice place e.g. in a window where you are reminded and where you can keep an eye on them as they dry.
![](../images/toolpics-4.jpg)
| Nr | Ingredient | Approx. Price | Where to find |
|-----|-------|---------|---------|
| 1 | Yellow onion skins| n/a | identify waste streams in your home, neighbourhood and/or local supermarkets/restaurants | add notes here |
| 2 | Red cabbage | n/a | identify waste streams in your home, neighbourhood and/or local supermarkets/restuarants |
| 3 | Fish skins | n/a | connect to local fish mongers or a fish market and try to access this as a waste stream, also ask for fish scales! Can be used to make plastic and glue as well|
| 4 | Egg shells |n/a | identify waste streams in your home, neighbourhood and/or local supermarkets/restaurants |
| 5 | PLA scraps | n/a | identify waste streams locally, in fablabs, printshops etcetera. Ask for scraps and failed prints that are easier to handle manually |
| 6 | Withered flowers | n/a | connect to local flower shops to access these as a waste stream, flowers in nature are there to be enjoyed by everyone, don't pick them|
| 7 | Banana peels | n/a | identify waste streams in your home, neighbourhood and/or local supermarkets/restaurants |
| 8 | Overripe mangos | n/a | identify waste streams at local markets |
##List of ingredients to buy
The ingredients below are things you will likely have to buy. It's good exercise to localize options that are produced fairly and sustainably, and ideally locally. Research the manufacturers, contact them, find out where things are produced and what your best option might be. These may be subject to change and more research can be done to find even better options. Consider this an open invitation to improve what is here!
| Nr | Ingredient | Approx. Price | Supplier | Notes |
|-----|-------|---------|--------|------|
| 9 | Denatured alcohol 96% | € 6 per L | [Orphi](https://www.drogist.nl/orphi-alcohol-96-gedenat-5-en-methan-1000ml.htm) | this version has 5% methanol |
| 10 | Potato starch | € 2,60 per 250 g | [Johannesmolen or other eco brand](https://www.ekoplaza.nl/producten/product/aardappelzetmeel?channable=e63107.MTU4Ng&gclid=CjwKCAjwhOD0BRAQEiwAK7JHmMX6if0OD3uBoImteSVMm5d27XDRRQr4rr1YdMX48C4HwlO4B7ZNzxoCTLMQAvD_BwE) | produced in the Netherlands |
| 11 | Glycerine | € 10 per L | [Chempropack for Orphi](https://www.deonlinedrogist.nl/drogist/chempropack-glycerine-123.htm) or search for "Glycerine 1.23 chempropack" | foodgrade (E422), vegetable-based, produced in Portugal |
| 12 | Gelatine powder | € 27 per kg | [Dr Oetker or Jacob Hooy for 1 kg packages](https://www.bouwhuis.com/dr-oetker-prof-gelatinepoeder-1kg) or search for "gelatine powder 1kg" | also available at wholesalers like Sligro |
| 13 | Agar powder | € 72 per kg | [De Kruidenbaron](https://www.dekruidenbaron.nl/agar-agar-poeder.html?id=133179224) or search for "agar powder" | also found in Asian supermarkets |
| 14 | Bees wax | € 35 per kg | [Wiertz](https://www.superfoodstore.nl/drogisterij/overig-huishoudelijk/wiertz-bijenwas-zuiver-1-kg?search_query=bijenwas&results=645) or search for "pure bees wax" | other types may be fine, need to be tested |
| 15 | Sodium Alginate| € 15 per 300 g | [Unique Products](https://www.unique-products.nl/qr_alginate.html) | at wholesalers like sligro or cooking shops. Other types of sodium alginate could be researched further |
| 16 | Calcium chloride | € 6 per 500 g | [Brandless](https://www.werkenmetmerken.nl/nl/calciumchloride_poeder_food_grade/p/47859/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4dr0BRCxARIsAKUNjWS_6b7zZZuTGeBrYNpcCWrEiLdMfli2Lipr8VFhCHWqDCQq6K4MRE8aAo9AEALw_wcB#75469) | this is food grade, but it is a desiccant that **can be dangerous to health in high concentrations. Do not ingest!** Wear gloves |
| 17 | White vinegar | € 0,50 per 1,5L | [any homebrand at supermarket or grocery store, e.g.](https://www.jumbo.com/jumbo-witte-natuurazijn-1,-5l/137400FLS/) | or any other 4-8% vinegar with a PH of around 3 (too acidic can kill microbes in e.g. kombucha recipes) |
| 18 | Citric acid | € 7 per kg | [usually brandless, e.g.](https://www.natuurproduct.com/a-45323177-4066077/meel-bakmiddel/citroenzuur/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4dr0BRCxARIsAKUNjWRLZUF25Uj4MQnHTFJ0iTntPDmHbUjCnNsdJww_YGBe2UKfq7xiQt8aAj7NEALw_wcB#description) or can be found in asian super markets | smaller packages best found in asian supermarkets|
| 19 | Kitchen salt | € 0,50 per kg | [Any brand](https://www.bouwhuis.com/keukenzout-1kg?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4dr0BRCxARIsAKUNjWQtGd6xkDv9Taij7Zg0OW7bg3lZwScrN0lQPIg4OT3rbFxGo5NbGSsaAmyBEALw_wcB) or plain kitchen salt from supermarket | plain salt formula is NaCl |
| 20 | Soda ash (carbonate soda, washing soda) | € 3,5 per kg | [Greenhub via Ekoplaza](https://www.ekoplaza.nl/producten/product/wassoda) or search for "carbonate soda, soda ash or in Dutch: natriumcarbonaat or huishoudsoda" | Na2C03 (or E500) is carbonate soda and is used for cleaning. Bicarbonate soda or baking powder is NOT the same |
| 21 | Dishwashing soap | € 2 per 450 ml | [e.g. Ecover](https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi434053/ecover-afwasmiddel-zero) or any eco dishwashing soap | smells will transfer to the bioplastic |
| 22 | Raw kombucha | € 3 per 300 ml | [YaYa Original Kombucha](https://www.ekoplaza.nl/producten/product/kombucha-original) | or any kombucha drink with raw culture in it (should say so on the packaging). You can also buy a SCOBY from a brewer directly |
| 23 | Black tea | € 2 per 50 bags | [Pickwick](https://www.plus.nl/product/pickwick-english-zwarte-thee-pot-voordeelpak-doos-50-stuks-739934) | any plain black (ceylon, english breakfast tea) or green tea will do. Flavouring (e.g. earl grey often contains oils) and does not work well |
| 24 | Sugar| € 1 per 1.5 KG | [brandless](https://www.plus.nl/product/neutraal-suiker-zak-1500-gram-867669) | plain white (organic) sugar is best |
| 25 | Alum | € 9 per kg | [Orphi](https://www.deweegschaal.nl/orphi/aluin-1000g?channable=e72547.MTEyODk2OQ&utm_campaign=tradetracker&utm_content=&utm_source=tradetracker&utm_medium=CPS&utm_term=&s2m_channel=34&s2m_exclickid=1537697%3A%3A183960%3A%3ACj0KCQjw4dr0BRCxARIsAKUNjWRqRUOeOdiVoK2FEOSw0F80flvrCgfomVWKThQGQlH2QRTh.-i2YD4aAq3KEALw.wcB%3A%3A%3A%3A1586971657&s2m_exaffid=183960) or search for "Alum, Potash alum or potassium aluminium sulphate" | in Dutch often sold as "Aluin" crystals |
| 26 | Madder roots (dried) | € 35 per 1 KG | [Meervilt](https://www.meervilt.nl/winkel/verven/natuurlijk-verven/meekrap/) or search for "madder roots, or rubia tinctorum" | in Dutch: "meekrap wortel, gedroogd"|
| 27 | Water | € 0 per 1L | [Dutch tap water](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/drinkwater/vraag-en-antwoord/hoe-is-de-kwaliteit-van-het-drinkwater-in-nederland) | of course this is not free. Dutch tap water currently costs about 0,00064 euros per L and is considered to be very high quality. If unsure, use demineralized water for your recipes (found at drug stores)|
| 28 | Sunflower oil | € 1,5 per 1L | [Any brand](https://www.deen.nl/product/g-woon-zonnebloemolie-1-liter) or find at super market in the oil isle | or try other vegetable oils |
| 29 | Cloves | € 1,40 per 5 gr | [supermarket or grocer](https://www.jumbo.com/jumbo-kruidnagel-5g/182379STK/) | get whole cloves, not powder |
| 30 | Pure silk chiffon | € 17 per meter | [Fabric shop](https://www.zijdewinkel.nl/stoffen/zijde/chiffon/chiffon-35-natuurwit-op-138-cm-breed) silk chiffon | this is 138 cm wide. In dutch: search for chiffon or mousseline |
| 31 | Yarn | € 3,00 per 125m | [Hobbii eco bamboo/cotton yarn](https://hobbii.nl/garen/rainbow-bamboo-1003671) or search for eco yarns | any yarn would do in principle |
| 32 | Pipe cleaners | € 1 per 20 | [LTC Leiden](https://www.ltcleiden.nl/artikel/chenilledraad-6-mm-30-cm-20-stuks-wit/16132/) or search for "pipe cleaners" | dutch: chenilledraad found in hobby shops |
| 33 | Crunchy peanut butter | € 5 per 500 g | [Ekoplaza](https://www.ekoplaza.nl/producten/product/pindakaas-ongezouten-en-ongezoet?channable=e63107.MzIzMzIx&gclid=CjwKCAjwhOD0BRAQEiwAK7JHmKG4MBo-FHA0n-m_Q9zrfFH7vJJ-ERrEFCj57WFzM_mrYrsp5jR7vxoCq38QAvD_BwE) or any organic crunchy peanut butter | find one without additives |
| 34 | Large coffee filters | € 12 per 1000pcs | [Kantinewinkel.nl](https://www.kantinewinkel.nl/korffilters-90-250-mm-1000-stuks?gclid=CjwKCAjwhOD0BRAQEiwAK7JHmLSGH9uxWY1DPg9y4xiibzwSJ64rLf3Igu2PTneOu3lVS9dbUzo4SxoCjhkQAvD_BwE) or search for "large coffee filters" | Dutch: korffilters are the round variety |
| 35 | Turpentine | € 3 per L | [Gamma](https://www.gamma.nl/assortiment/ok-terpentine-1-liter/p/B547476) or any hardware store | the eco might work too, but this variety still needs to be tested |
| 36 | Boiled linseed/flaxseed oil | € 4 per L | [Gamma](https://www.gamma.nl/assortiment/gamma-lijnolie-gekookt-500-ml/p/B507653) or any hardware store | Be sure to get the boiled version, not the raw one or the foodgrade oil. The boiled linseed oil dries faster. Raw *might* work but needs to be tested. In Dutch: "gekookte lijnolie" |
###Specialist lab supplies
These are required to make the bacterial dye listed here. Try connecting to a biolab near you if these are hard to acquire otherwise.
| Nr | Ingredient | Approx. Price | Supplier | Notes |
|-----|-------|---------|---------|------|
| 37 | LB broth| € 90 per kg | [Fishersci](https://www.fishersci.nl/shop/products/ready-made-luria-broth-lb-powder-2/15805378#?keyword=LB+broth) or search for "Luria Broth Powder" | this is used as a liquid growth medium to grow bacteria on. Liquid broth is the better option to dye textiles directly |
| 38 | Strain of Serratia Marcescens Bacteria | € 50 per 1 ml | [BCCM Belspo Belgium](http://bccm.belspo.be/services/distribution) | be sure to ask the supplier for a level 1 type, some conditions for purchasing may apply, consider collaborating with a local biolab for the first experiments |
| 39 | Parafilm | € 36 per roll of 75m | [Fishersci](https://www.fishersci.nl/shop/products/purple-parafilm-m-sealing-film/16330422#?keyword=parafilm) or search for "parafilm" | 5 cm width is fine it can be cut into smaller pieces |
| 40 | Autoclave tape | € 22 per roll of 12m | [Fishersci](https://www.fishersci.nl/shop/products/adhesive-autoclave-indicator-tape/11720474#?keyword=autoclave+tape) or search for "autoclave indicator tape" | indicator for steam sterilization processes (will change color when sterilized) |
#24 recipes to start a local sample archive
|||||
|---|---|---|---|
| [![](../../images/finalpics-16_foam_GOOD.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/biofoam/) Biofoam | [![](../../images/finalpics-67.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/biofoilextraflexible) Gelatin foil |[![](../../images/finalpics-37.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/bioresin) Bioresin | [![](../../images/finalpics-45_silicone.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/biosilicon) Biosilicone |
|[![](../../images/finalpics-47.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/biorubber) Starch Rubber | [![](../../images/finalpics-56.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/biolino) Biolinoleum | [![](../../images/finalpics-3.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/alginatenet) Alginate net | [![](../../images/finalpics-52.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/alginatefoil) Alginate foil |
| [![](../../images/finalpics-72.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/alginatestring) Alginate string | [![](../../images/finalpics-80.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/agarfoil) Agar foil | [![](../../images/finalpics-58.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/agarcomposite) Bio composite | [![](../../images/finalpics-61.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/recycledPLA)Reused PLA |
|[![](../../images/finalpics-4.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/alumcrystalsilk)Alum crystals|[![](../../images/finalpics_reexported-3.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/kombuchascoby)Kombucha scoby|[![](../../images/finalpics-14.jpg) ](../../../files/recipes/kombuchapaper) Kombucha foil|[![](../../images/finalpics-127.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/flowerpaper)Flower paper|
|[![](../../images/finalpics-20.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/mangoleather) Mango leather |[![](../../images/finalpics_reexported-2.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/bananaclay) Banana Clay | [![](../../images/finalpics-76.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/fishskin) Fish leather | [![](../../images/finalpics_reexported-1.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/phmodifiers) PH modifiers |
|[![](../../images/finalpics-115.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/cabbagedye) Cabbage dye | [![](../../images/finalpics-143.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/oniondye) Onion dye |[![](../../images/finalpics-83.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/madderdye) Madder dye |[![](../../images/finalpics-124.jpg)](../../../files/recipes/bacterialdye) Bacterial dye |
These are the material samples I crafted over the course of this project. There were many more, but they did not make the cut when I'd set my criteria in stone. These recipes can also be used by anyone who wants to start of a local physical archive (maybe in your school, community center, research group or library). Crafting this basic collection will teach you the foundational techniques that many other recipes will build upon, and require you to collect the basic tools and ingredients you will need. By making this archive starter of material samples, you will learn some of the most important techniques to start your own R&D lab for design materials and you will have a variety of physical forms (solids, sheets, composites) to build upon. Further research is advised in case you wish to use any of these for commercial purposes (copyright info is listed in the recipes too, where known).
**Selection criteria**
1. All these materials are easily and harmlessly **absorbed by nature within 90 days** and/or can be turned into compost, *without* controlled conditions that require industrial composting facilities. And/or the material can be re-used with no or little additional resources. Biodegradability as a sustainability label is too often used to greenwash e.g. disposable packaging materials, so these criteria were chosen as point of departure.
1. Recipes should be based on **local abundance**: the ingredients should be sourced and/or produced around my location (e.g. potato starch over tapioca, and madder over cochineal).
1. The collection of recipes chosen should **cover a range of foundational biofabrication techniques**
1. Executing the recipes as documented should **result in a variety of physical forms** that makers and designers from different fields can recognize as semi-formed design materials.
**Putting my recipe templates into practice**
The recipes ask all the questions that came up during my learning and research process that formed the foundation for the recipe templates. Questions that come up as you learn might be: how do you know when to demould a bioresin? How long does it take before it reached its final form and doesn't shrink anymore? Where does this recipe even come from? What makes a material sustainable? If it is sustainable, what other arguments might there be that make a material contested or controversial to use? Are there dilemmas to consider? Some questions don't have answers yet because they require further research. Consider them invitations to continue the exploration.
![](../../images/pics-insta1.jpg)*Biofabricating alginate string, Loes Bogers, 2020*
**Sustainability beyond biodegradability**
All the materials listed here are easily and harmlessly absorbed by nature within 90 days and/or can be turned into compost, *without* controlled conditions assuming industrial facilities, and/or the material can be re-used with no or little additional resources. Many - but not all - are vegan. This rather specific point of departure is important because biodegradability - especially in the realm of bioplastics - has become a very loosely used term that connotates "better" plastics, even though some bioplastics are chemically identical to petroleumbased options, even when they are crafted from "natural" ingredients like corn starch.
**Tools and ingredients**
I've compiled an overview of tools and materials needed to recreate these recipes in the Netherlands:
- [Ingredients & consumables ](../../../files/ingredients_consumables/)
- [Tools](../../../files/tools/)
**Future developments**
I will design a display for these samples together with my students once the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided enough for us to acess the lab again. All the samples will be labeled and displayed to allow students and colleagues at my university lab to explore these materials, recipes, and start contributing to the collection with their own experiments.
#Proposal for open online archiving
#Features wishlist for material archives
Below's slideshow is a mock-up of an imagined online archive to rethink the way we might archive new naturals in a context-aware, collaborative way. In many ways, the proposal follows the form and functions the same way other content management systems allow users to contribute. So there is nothing new there, it is the point that it looks familiar and recognizable as such.
The slideshow at the bottom of this page is a mock-up of an imagined online archive to rethink the way we might archive new naturals in a context-aware, collaborative way. In many ways, the proposal follows the form and functions the same way other content management systems allow users to contribute. So there is nothing new there, it is the point that it looks familiar and recognizable as such. To explain, I've created a walk-through video.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0jvTqtBk5YM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSOITFNlLhDRTC-h4-3g8u4V4mp2aVy5ONBdhKwN_7VJFTJSQW5lZD5VXOjcPAiExnz6gH1xD5-qoX1/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" frameborder="0" width="600" height="629" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
*Walkthrough of the features wishlist. Loes Bogers, 2020*
##Summary
**Meaningful filtering and correlating with additional fields**
**Meaningful filtering and correlating using additional fields**
The contribution envisioned here is more about the way database entries might allow for other perspective. For example: how might we approach recipes, ingredients, and user locations in more *relational* ways? How can new fields that ask contributors to make more specific and nuanced ethical and ecological considerations, be turned into meaningfully searchable tags and filtering? This mock-up tries to probe such questions by imagining such an archiving system and different roles for different kinds of users.
**Proposed features**
Developing a working database was outside the scope of this project, and connecting to existing initiatives may be a better avenue to explore. The design of the system proposed here:
Developing a working database was outside the scope of this project, and connecting to existing initiatives may be a better avenue to explore. The design of the kind of system proposed here would include these features:
- **features for peer feedback**, ratings and constructive criticism;
- **additional fields** in contribution forms that help us build more nuanced understandings of the historical, cultural and ecological context of materials and ingredients (e.g. eco-compatibility tags);
- include **audiovisual material** that can convey tactile and sensorial qualities of samples;
- add additional required fields (in recipe and ingredient forms) to **add a critical angle on the way we consider new naturals** as material alternatives.
- use these new fields as **additional filtering criteria** for e.g. local abundance in your area, most successful recipes, or most contested ones that could be further researched.
- once used by enough users, the way the datastructures are linked can **allow for further analysis of popular recipes and correlations** with e.g. geographical regions, environmental conditions and local abundance of certain ingredients: so in the future we might be able to learn from the database-as-dataset.
- **differentiation of "roles" and rituals** (reader vs. writer vs. admin vs. superadmin) to ensure quality control and feedback loops based on experience and expertise.
- **enables peer feedback**, ratings and constructive criticism
- incorporate **additional fields** in contribution forms, to promote, include and build more nuanced understanding of the historical, cultural and ecological context of materials and ingredients.
- include **audiovisual material** that can convey tactile and sensorial qualities of samples
- its logics of organisation and additional required fields can promote and **add a critical angle on the way we consider new naturals** as material alternatives. It allows users to filter on the properties as well as constituent ingredients *and* other tags pulled from the fields of the recipe and ingredient forms that may all become relevant filtering criteria: such as local abundance in your area. Most successful recipes, or most contested ones that could be further researched.
- the way the datastructures are linked **allow for analysis of popular recipes and correlations** with geographical regions, environmental conditions and local abundance of certain ingredients
The suggested features may be included in existing archives (preferred) or be a starting point for a new initiative. Do get in touch if you are are working on material archiving and would like to explore this further: l[dot]bogers[at]hva[dot]nl
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSOITFNlLhDRTC-h4-3g8u4V4mp2aVy5ONBdhKwN_7VJFTJSQW5lZD5VXOjcPAiExnz6gH1xD5-qoX1/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" frameborder="0" width="600" height="629" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
The suggested features may be included in existing archives (preferred) or be a starting point for a new initiative. Do get in touch if you are are working on material archiving and would like to explore this further! l[dot]bogers[at]hva[dot]nl