DESIGN NAME: Blood as Material
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Lamp
INSPIRATION: Blood As Material is inspired by Pig Blood Cake, a famous Taiwanese dish made with blood and rice. The addition of rice in blood acted as a stabilizer, allowing it to form a stable and relatively strong structure.
After lots of trial and error, a brand-new biomaterial, composed of pig blood and wheat gluten, transmitting a reddish brown color, is successfully made for as a visually interesting light diffuser.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Blood As Material is a lamp collection that advocates environmental protection by applying a new biomaterial made of discarded pig blood from slaughterhouses.
Due to government regulations in Taiwan, the disposal cost of
waste blood is quite high. Through this design, we can show people the possibility of a visually unique outcome, changing the way people feel and judge about more possibilities regarding biomaterial design, even when dealing with controversial materials such as blood.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: The final material used is meant to create something visually intriguing, yet doesn't immediately resemble blood until more information is learned. Surprising the audience with the unique material, before inducing the urge to learn more about this material and the story behind it.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in June 2023 in Taiwan, Taipei, as a graduation project for my bachelor's degree in Industrial design at Shih Chien University.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Lighting Products and Fixtures Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The Material is made with disposed blood, gluten powder, Calcium chloride( for moisture stabilization), and water. The raw material is mixed, and baked at a low temperature, before curing for two weeks. Forming a stable leather-like material that can be made thin enough to be transmissive, while having an interesting veiny, organic texture.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: The collection has four lamps in total, consisting of two rectangular wall lamps( 250*80*450mm, 100*50*250mm), one rounded-shaped wall lamp( 100*50*200mm), and one table lamp( 250*80*250mm), all requiring 110V power supply.
TAGS: Sustainability, Upcycle, Waste, C2C, Animal husbadry
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: While visiting a major slaughterhouse for a design project, I was refused when asking for some blood. After chatting with the owner I've learned that not only the majority of blood produced by slaughterhouses are non-food grade, but are even required to be disposed of at a cost by certain certified facilities. This led to me doing more research about the probable usage of blood in design, and eventually created this project.
CHALLENGE: The hardest part has to be the material experiments. Pure blood cracks and appears to be quite brittle after dehydration, so numerous stabilizers were tested such as rice flour, bread flour, gluten, talcum powder, etc.
ADDED DATE: 2024-02-20 16:15:58
TEAM MEMBERS (1) :
IMAGE CREDITS: Image #1: Design Student Jiun-Yow Tsai, Photo for Blood As Material, 2024.
Image #2: Design Student Jiun-Yow Tsai, Photo for Blood As Material, 2024.
Image #3: Design Student Jiun-Yow Tsai, Photo for Blood As Material, 2024.
Image #4: Design Student Jiun-Yow Tsai, Photo for Blood As Material, 2024.
Image #5: Design Student Jiun-Yow Tsai, Photo for Blood As Material, 2024.
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