Bio Quotidian
- Laia Mogas-Soldevila
- Weitzman School of Design (PennDesign)
- Independent Creative Production Grant
Exploring materials as new design companions, Bio Quotidian are everyday objects made of materials that nurture both the human body and planet Earth by bring together; ambient-conditions manufacturing, environmentally-interactive bio-composites, as well as inclusive and equitable material practices, while proposing new bio-aesthetic cultures.
Biomaterials are abundant, naturally produced by the Earth, and most of the time discarded from industrial by-products. Blends made from shrimp shells, plant fibers, silk cocoons, fungi roots, or algae gums outperform recently developed technical composites and ceramics, and ultimately biodegrade without damaging the environment unlike their man-made counterparts. Bio Quotidian is a materials innovation project, utilizing such biomaterial blends as well as advanced fabrication in large-scale bio-blend printing. This new body of work augmenting Dr. Mogas-Soldevila’s previous contributions to design and engineering, will too bridge art and science to produce everyday biomaterial objects that enable discovery of environmentally-benign and aesthetically-surprising products to all segments of society.