BIOBASED DESIGN

design products with biomass as a raw material

Biobased Design was a project developed by House of Design in collaboration with Syntens Nederland that ran from 2012 to 2013. Product designers were linked to producers of biobased semi-finished products such as PLA yarns from Applied Polymer Institute Emmen, PLA foil from Oerlemans Plastics, hemp mats and textiles from Hempflax.

The prototypes were presented during the design event Design in Groningen in 2013. The presentation showed design products of the future, with biomass as a raw material. One of the questions was ‘will we soon be walking in 3D-printed shoes made from potato starch?’ Who knows, more is possible than you think!

What does the term Biobased mean?
More and more importance is being attached to sustainable product development. Products made from fossil raw materials (such as natural gas and petroleum) are harmful to our environment, especially due to CO2 emissions. Products made from plant or animal materials are much better for our climate. The transition from fossil raw materials to biomass as a raw material is referred to as Biobased.

Designers
House of Design focuses on the Biobased Economy and what it can mean for designers. They are often the first to experiment with new materials here. Based on their experience, they can provide valuable feedback to the manufacturers of these materials.

Bioplastic, hemp and palm leather
During the final conference of the InterregNSR project Creative City Challenge and the subsequent Open Ebbinge event, Carolijn Slottje, Jozephine Duker, Zinniger, Marjolein Perin and Sandra Jongendijk showed the products they have made in a short time from bioplastic and hemp. In addition, Tjeerd Veenhoven showed his products made from palm leaves (palm leather).

Workshop Minerva Academy
For the InterregNSR project Creative City Challenge, House of Design gave a Biobased Design workshop at Hanzehogeschool Academie Minerva, in which product designers involved in Biobased Design introduced students to designing with biobased materials.

Cooperation
The event in Groningen was just a teaser. After the presentation, several designers in Groningen and Friesland started working with producers of biobased materials. They continued experimenting and designing products. Through this collaboration, the producers received feedback from a completely different angle than usual.

With this knowledge, manufacturers can improve their materials and show their materials in a different application during presentations and at trade fairs; namely incorporated into beautiful products.

The results could be admired during Design in Groningen from May 23 to 25, 2013.