可持续设计的五种材料
Five materials that could help us design a more sustainable future

由专筑网王帅，李韧编译

Matter研究工作室创始人Seetal Solanki认为。现在有各种各样的环保材料可供选择，她挑出了五个最具创新性的例子。

Solanki是《Why Materials Matter: Responsible Design For A Better World》一书的作者，该书探讨了如何在整个设计行业使用替代材料，来减少对环境的影响。

它列举了设计师、艺术家和科学家为全球问题提供潜在解决方案的例子，例如有落叶松植物制成的塑料替代品，也有用椰子汁制成的类似皮革材料。

Solanki列举了她认为最具潜力的五种材料，并解释了原因：

There is a wide range of eco-friendly materials that can be used in design, according to Seetal Solanki, founder of research studio Matter. She picks out five of the most innovative examples.
Solanki is the author of Why Materials Matter: Responsible Design For A Better World, a book that explores how alternative materials can be used across the design industry, to reduce its environmental impact.
It presents examples from designers, artists and scientists that offer potential solutions to global problems, from a plastic substitute made from lupin plants to a leather-like material made using coconut water.
Solanki reveals the five she thinks offer the most potential and explains why:



再生金

Formafantasma工作室从废弃的电子物品中提取黄金，用于椅子、键盘等物品的表面装饰。

这个意大利的设计工作室引起了人们对大量数码垃圾、过时电子产品，以及各种有价值的材料的关注。例如，计算机电路板中的黄金以及硬盘和移动电话中的钯。

“该项目为未来电子产品的剩余材料和贵金属的再利用提供了契机，这表明我们可以对电子产品的设计和最终处理采取更负责任的方法。”

Recycled gold
"Formafantasma has scavenged gold from discarded electronic items to create surface finishes on chairs, keyboards and more.
"The Italian design duo has drawn attention to the vast amounts of digital waste and obsolete electronics, as well as the valuable materials used in them – gold in computer circuit boards and palladium in hard drives and mobile phones, for example.
"The project offers a glimpse into a future where electronics are dismantled and the precious metals reused, which suggests that we can take a more responsible approach to electronic product design as well as its end disposal."



天蓝色链霉菌

生物设计实验室（Biodesign laboratory Faber Futures）将少量产生色素的细菌链霉菌加入到丝绸中。经过大约34天的繁殖，丝巾上形成精致而生动的的粉红、蓝色、绿色和黄色的有机抽象形状。

“色素沉淀是真菌与细菌混合的结果。细菌是一种活色素，在应用过程中几乎不需要水。相比之下，化学染色技术却消耗大量的水，严重地影响了生态环境。”

Streptomyces coelicolor
"Biodesign laboratory Faber Futures has impregnated silk with a small amount of the pigment-producing bacteria streptomyces coelicolor. After approximately 34 days of incubation, vivid pinks, blues, greens and yellows form organic abstract shapes on the delicate silk scarves.
"Imperfections in the pigmentation are the result of rogue bits of fungus mixing with the bacteria. As the bacteria is a living pigment, little to no water is required in the application process. In contrast, chemical dyeing techniques involve significant quantities of water, with serious ecological implications."



羽扇豆

“来自冰岛首都雷克雅维克艺术学院的学生使用羽扇豆来制造一种实用、自结合、不含化学物质和生物降解的纤维板，从而为建筑、施工和产品设计提供了另一种解决方案。相比之下，中密度纤维板（MDF）却使用合成胶将木材纤维粘合在一起。”

“这种材料来源于植物，不需要人工添加物，而且完全自结合。这种可以作为材料的植物还有其它方面的优点，它可以增加土壤中的氮，为其他植物提供肥料。”

Lupin
"Students from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík have been using lupin to create a fibreboard that is useful, self-binding, chemical-free and biodegradable, which offers an alternative solution for building, construction and product design, as well as for MDF that uses synthetic glues to bind the wood fibres together.
"The material is made from a plant source, requires no man-made additives and is completely self-binding. The plant has further positive properties as a material, as it has the ability to increase nitrogen in the soil, providing fertiliser for other plants."



椰子汁

“印度南部的Malai椰子种植基地正在开发一种完全由椰子汁自然产生的细菌制成的类似皮革材料。它是动物皮革的替代品。且细菌纤维素材料可完全生物降解，防水且不杀生。”

“椰子汁中自然产生的细菌被放置在潮湿的环境中，混合发酵伴随着一层纤维素的生长，随后在12至21天内繁殖成果冻状物质。时间越长，材料就越厚，最终形成如同皮革一样的材料。”

Coconut water
"South India-based coconut farming facility Malai is creating a leather-like material made entirely from the bacteria naturally derived from coconut water. It offers a responsible alternative to animal-based leathers, as the bacterial cellulose material is totally biodegradable, water resistant and vegan.
"The bacteria naturally occurring in coconut water is placed in a humid environment, the mixture ferments and a layer of cellulose grows, multiplying over a period of 12 to 21 days into a jelly-like substance. The longer it is left, the thicker the material becomes, eventually coming to have a leather-like quality."



原棉

“Really Textiles是对纺织业高污染作业的回应，它将柔软的纤维转变成一种可用于家具和室内的固体材料。”

“这些棉花来自丹麦的工业蒸汽洗衣店和意大利的一家大型织物回收厂，而剩下的羊毛纤维则来自Kvadrat。这些纺织品经过破碎，形成小颗粒的纤维，随后被压制成硬纸板，然后用蒸汽机械将短纤维捆绑在一起。”

“因为回收方法和原材料的广泛性，该生产过程显示了简单的策略就可以让设计师和建筑师重新思考对于资源的使用方式。”

Raw cotton
"Really Textiles is reacting to the highly polluting industrial processes of the textiles industry and transforming the soft fibres into a solid material that can be used for furniture and interiors.
"The cotton comes from Danish industrial steam laundries and a large fabric recycler in Italy, while leftover wool fibres come from Kvadrat. These textiles are broken down and granulated into smaller fibres, which are pressed into hardboard in a process that binds the short fibres using steam machinery.
"Since both the recycling method and raw materials are widely available, this production process shows how a simple intervention can challenge designers and architects to rethink their use of resources."