»Plant-Dyed Case« is a guide to making a case from vegan leather dyed with botanical pigments.
Lorena Droste
Photos: Lorena Droste
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Paper leather is a vegan alternative to animal leather and can be dyed with pigments extracted from dye plants. These botanical dyes are known for their rich and long-lasting colours and have been used for thousands of years across cultures to colour textiles, food, and cosmetics. The guide encourages experimentation with local dye plants such as madder root, birch, or woad to create unique colour combinations. Unlike synthetic dyes, which are typically petroleum- or coal-based and have a significant environmental impact, natural dyes provide a renewable and resource-efficient alternative. The project combines traditional knowledge with contemporary design and promotes a resource-conscious design practice.
»Vio« ist ein Experiment, das den Einsatz biologisch erzeugter Pigmente zur Holzfärbung erforscht.
SPACE FOR BIOMATERIALS
Photos: SBYD, Dominik-Antoni Krolikowski
Bakterielle Pigmente werden derzeit als potenziell nachhaltige Alternativen zu Farbstoffen untersucht, die aus erdölbasierten Verbindungen oder Schwermetallen hergestellt werden. Janthinobacterium lividum ist ein im Boden lebendes Bakterium, das eine dunkelvioletten Stoff namens Violacein produziert. Dieser weist antibakterielle, antivirale und antifungale Eigenschaften auf. Der Holzfarbstoff für »Vio« wurde hergestellt, indem Janthinobacterium lividum im Labor kultiviert, das Violacein-Pigment extrahiert und daraus eine ethanolbasierte Farbe entwickelt wurde, die auf Holz aufgetragen werden kann.
The SPACE FOR BIOMATERIALS explores bio-based alternatives to petroleum-based materials, focusing on their structural qualities and ecological benefits.
MATERIALS BY:
SPACE FOR BIOMATERIALS
Zeynep Deliomeroglu
Lars Feller
Riccarda Gumbinger
Paulina Heidlberger
Maja Kaiser
Wiebke Antonia Laumann
Jaqueline Lobodda
Isabel Lorenz
Xenia Martin
Marzieh Mokhtari Baghkomeh
Maximilian Moritz Müller
Gunilla Piltz
Julius Schnettger
Lilli Seiler
Yifei Shi
Photos: Dominik-Antoni Krolikowski
By repurposing waste like fruit peels and eggshells or using mycelium, algae, and bacterial pigments, new aesthetics and potential uses emerge.
What if a product is not meant to last, but designed to transform or decompose over time? Can these new materials celebrate imperfection and ephemerality, fostering alternatives – not just in producing, but in living and interacting with the world around us?
»Eggshell Plant Pot« is a biodegradable pot made from discarded eggshells, designed to enrich soil and promote plant growth while reducing waste.
Lilli Seiler
Photos: Dominik-Antoni Krolikowski
In food production, eggshells are often discarded despite containing valuable minerals like calcium and micronutrients such as copper, iron, and zinc. This project explores eggshell-based biomaterials, focusing on recycling waste into a closed cycle. By processing eggshells into biodegradable pots using plaster moulds, these plant pots aim to enrich calcium-depleted soils and support plant growth.
»Habitat« is an investigation into pine resin as a binder combining carbon-negative biochar, which is derived from biogenic residues through pyrolysis, to develop a new material.
The project focuses on the agency of the material itself, providing objects that enable new modes of co-existence and interactions with other species to promote a more sustainable and liveable future. Due to their materiality, the objects have tendencies that are inherent to living systems: the ability to change, to decay and to return to nature as nutrients.
The project was developed as part of the SBYD Designer-in-Residence programme and was exhibited for the first time at the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven in 2024.
»Fungiture« explores thermal pressing as a new method of processing mycelium-based materials in the context of furniture design.
Paulina Heidlberger
Photos: Lena Zülch, SBYD
Fungi are used as veneer and fused with wood under heat, creating stable, homogeneous, and visually interesting panels – without the use of adhesives. The approach behind »Fungiture« highlights new aesthetic possibilities, turning each stool into a unique piece. It showcases the use of alternative materials and sustainable methods in furniture production and aims to foster a broader acceptance of these.
