来源于铜制副产品的艺术作品
Studio ThusThat creates objects from "overlooked" byproducts of the copper industry

由专筑网小R编译

多学科工作室ThusThat将铜用作混凝土的替代品，从而达到低碳的目的，并把这些材料用在“这是铜”家具系列作品中。

这些材料来源于比利时的一家铜厂，“这是铜”系列作品包含有椅子、灯具、镜子等等。

每件作品的目的都是在展示铜作为混凝土替代品的潜力，在全球二氧化碳的年排放总量中，来自混凝土的排放占了8%。

Multidisciplinary collective Studio ThusThat explored the "invisible" material of copper as a low-carbon alternative to concrete when developing its This is Copper furniture collection.
Made using waste taken from a copper factory in Belgium, This is Copper comprises a series of objects including chairs, lamps and mirrors.
Each piece aims to demonstrate the potential of copper as a more sustainable alternative to cement, the production of which accounts for around eight per cent of global CO2 emissions per year.


工作室利用废弃铜制作了一系列家居用品，其中包括这张柱子椅子
The studio used waste copper to create a collection of furniture and homeware objects, including this Column Chair

皇家艺术学院（RCA）毕业生Kevin Rouff、Paco Böckelmann、 Guillermo Whittembury共同创立了ThusThat工作室，他们探索了多种工艺，研究展示不同材料的不同特点。

他们关注一种名为矿渣的废弃材料，这种材料是铜冶炼过程中剩下的杂质。

Royal College of Art (RCA) graduates Kevin Rouff, Paco Böckelmann and Guillermo Whittembury – who make up Studio ThusThat – experimented with various production processes to expose different characteristics and aesthetics of the material.
They focused on one particular waste called slag, which is the leftover impurities of the copper smelting process.


ThusThat工作室应用矿渣制作成细腻的粉末和粗糙的沙状物质
Studio ThusThat  used slag in a more refined, powdered form and a coarser, sand form

他们应用了矿渣的两种形式，即沙状物质和粉末。在其原始的形态中，矿渣看上去就像“发光的黑色砂砾”。

设计师将其熔融，然后倒入水中，遇冷之后会迅速冷却凝固，从而形成一大块黑色的固体，然后再破碎成小块，最后构成大型黑色土堆。

由于炼制过程需要高温环境，矿渣就能够变得粉碎，同时通过碱而得到激活。

这会导致内部物质的连锁反应，从而形成矿物聚合物，这意味着炉渣通过原始形态的结合，然后用作粘合剂和骨料。

设计师说：“它几乎能完全取代对于混凝土的需求。”

They used two forms of slag: sand and powder. In its raw form, slag looks "just like sparkly black sand".
It is poured in a molten state – which the designers describe as "man-made lava" – into water where it cools rapidly to form a black, glassy stone before shattering into small glassy pieces. It is then piled up in large, black mounds.
Due to the high temperature of the refining process, the slag is primed at a molecular level in such a way that it can be crushed into a powder and activated by an alkali.
This causes the chain reaction of internal bonds to form – resulting in a geopolymer. This means the slag can be used as both a binder and an aggregate by combining its powder and raw coarser forms.
"It replaces the need for cement entirely," said the designers.


工作室还设计了灯具，很好地表达了铜作为混凝土的低碳替代物的巨大潜力
The project, which also saw the studio create lamps, demonstrates the potential of copper as a low-carbon alternative to concrete

炉渣聚合物在成形的过程中不会释放二氧化碳，也不会消耗很多水，因此其碳足迹相比较标准混凝土要低大约77%。

另外它还有耐热性、抗冲击性、耐腐蚀性、耐酸性等特点，相较于混凝土还有很好的抗压强度和持久性。

The slag geopolymer does not release CO2 in its formation, nor does it use much water, resulting in a carbon footprint that is around 77 per cent smaller than standard cement.
It also boasts a high resistance to heat and shock, corrosion and acid, as well as a high compressive strength and better durability than cement.


闪耀的黑色座椅放置在一堆铜渣里
The Sparkly Black chair was cast directly into a pile of coarse copper slag

设计团队和KU Leuven的研究者们共同合作，探索了材料的发展前景，并且通过不同的技术来达到不同的目标和成果。

设计团队希望能够在“闪耀的黑色”座椅中探索材料的原始状态，因此这张椅子直接放置在一堆铜渣里，这类似于传统的沙模铸造过程。

Working alongside the researchers of KU Leuven, the team explored how far they could push the material by using various techniques to reap different effects and end results.
They wanted to explore the material in its raw state when making the Sparkly Black chair, which was cast directly into a pile of coarse copper slag – similar to the traditional sand-casting process.


为了制作这张“融化”椅子，设计师们把铜面板和融化铜结合在一起
To make the Molten Chair, the designers joined slabs of copper together with molten copper

另外，“碎石”椅则是通过手工把灰泥粘贴而形成的，因此这件作品看起来更加有机且不规则。

“融化”椅子更加细腻一些，设计师将铜面板和融化铜直接连接在一起，而混凝土则无法承受这种热冲击过程。

The Cobbed Chair, on the other hand, was made by shaping the mortar paste over a form by hand. As a result, it boasts a more organic, irregular form.
For the more refined, blocky Molten Chair, the designers joined slabs of copper together directly with molten copper – this thermal shock process would normally not be possible with Portland cement.


ThusThat工作室同样应用废弃铜制作镜子底座
Studio ThusThat also used waste copper to create mirror holders

这个项目开始之前，设计师们就开始自我反问“铜到底是什么”？

设计师说：“我们知道金属只是材料的一种，其中还会细分为尾矿、精矿，还有诸如金银等稀有金属，以及硫酸、硫酸盐溶液、矿渣等等。”

“它们都是铜，亦或是铜加工、回收、再利用的结果。”

“这个项目让我们不断地去探索了曾经为我们所忽视的副产品的巨大潜力。”

When starting the project, the RCA graduates asked themselves "what exactly is copper?".
"The metal we know is only part of a much wider material story," said the designers. "Mining overburden, tailings, metal concentrates, rare metals like gold and silver, sulfuric acid, sulphate solution, slag, and more."
"All of this is copper, or in other words is a direct result of processing, using, and recycling copper," they continued.
"This project exposes and proposes potential uses for these overlooked byproducts as we continue to search for new ore streams."


该项目的目的是表达这些铜副产品的巨大潜力
The project aims to showcase the "overlooked" potential of copper byproducts

ThusThat工作室位于伦敦和阿姆斯特丹，其代表作有VDF工作室的系列作品。

设计师解释，他们希望这个项目能够说明这种金属的完整功能。

“ThusThat工作室就是希望能够揭露材质的根本，挖掘源头，探索曾经的废弃物，重构人们对世界的理解。”

“铜的应用无处不在，但是很大一部分肉眼并不可见。这是人们所应用的较为古老的金属，甚至能够追溯到8000年前，它有很好的延展性和抗菌性。”

“就现代而言，再生能源的未来至关重要，一台风力涡轮机就能够应用5吨的铜，而高速公路每公里就需要10吨金属。”

ThusThat工作室曾经探究过金属铝的生产废料，他们将有毒的赤泥渣回收应用为一系列的生土餐具。

Studio ThusThat, who are based in London and Amsterdam, were featured as the first designer in the VDF studio profiles series.
In the profile the designers explained how they hope their project will help to tell a more complete account of the primary metal.
"Studio ThusThat aims to overturn how we understand our material world by uncovering their hidden backstories, digging into their origins, and exploring that which was left behind as waste," they explained.
"Copper is ubiquitous to our modern world, yet it is largely invisible," the designers added. "It is the oldest metal mined by humankind, with ancient uses dating back 8,000 years. The metal was historically used for its malleability and antimicrobial properties (indeed, even against viruses)."
"Today, it is crucial for a renewable future: a wind turbine alone can contain up to five tonnes of copper, and 10 tonnes of the metal are needed per kilometre of high-speed railway."
Studio ThusThat previously worked with the waste taken from aluminium production, recycling toxic red mud residue into a series of earthy tableware objects for their From Wasteland to Living Room project.