MOTHER MOLD
THREE BIO-DEGRADABLE BOWLS PRODUCED BY USING ONE VARIABLE MOLD, IN VACUUM FORMING TECHNOLOGY
2017
How can we stretch material bounds in the industrial world? Wanting to utilize industrial processes, I tried to hack traditional technologies and materials, and stretch them beyond their conventional boundaries, manipulating them so that they are an inseparable part of the manufacturing process. The bowls emphasize industrial innovation in terms of design, engineer, and efficiency, and offer customization to the market’s demands. The bio-degradable polymer I experimented with was given new dynamic properties, as I found a way to tune and modify it by altering the machine’s temperature and vacuum intensity.
Final objects with different serving options
The variable mold consists of six identical separate units, with the material used as their connector. The substance stretches over the units and the space between them, and create a strong construction by completing the gap. This new approach allows the manufacture of three different functional bowls in three different sizes, by a simple rearrangement of the units in the mold.
In my research of material, shape, and scale, I developed an aesthetic language for this technological hack and transformed accidental shapes into functional and decorative features. The molding units' top socket was used to marks the rim of the bowl and allowed quick cutting and finishing during the production line. While the other socket at the bottom was utilized to produce a stable base for the bowls.
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Distinguished aesthetic language, driven from the manufacturing process experiments
Since it cancels the need for three different molds, while allowing the use of degradable and recycled materials, the new mold creates both ecological and economical advantage for the tableware industry and the environment as well as distinctive aesthetics.
Digitally fabricated units, to experiment with molds assembly possibilities
Material research of the substance stretched over the units to create structure and shape