What Matter_s: the science bit

- written by Laura 

10 design studios + 10 leading scientists = one project we couldn’t wait to shoot. To coincide with the launch of Zetteler’s film documenting the project, here we chat to some of the inspiring scientist-designer pairs that teamed up for What Matter_s, a six-month collaboration that aimed to shed light on some of the ideas bubbling away at science’s bold frontiers.

Organised by Southern Sweden Creatives, the Form/Design Center, SPOK, and the Art and Science Initiative, What Matter_s invited researchers working in Southern Sweden right at the forefront of research – in areas as broad as bone technology, spider silk, bioplastics and artificial intelligence – to share their work with designers working in the area. Together they’d make the research tangible to your average Joe, as well as rousing wonder in what’s happening in contemporary science right now. The results were to be exhibited at Dutch Design Week between 20 and 28 October.

Over the summer, What Matter_s asked Zetteler Films to capture some of the process. To celebrate the launch of the film, we caught up with three of the ten pairs to find out how their collaborations went down now the dust has settled.

In Vitro Printer by Jenny Nordberg and Professor Magnus Tägil

Industrial designer Jenny Nordberg collaborated with orthopaedics surgeon and researcher Magnus Tägil to develop a human-powered 3D printer that replicates how bones heal after damage. Magnus himself specialises in bones, prosthetics and using nature to heal, whether that's thorough biomaterials, drugs or materials like ceramics and polymers. Before they started collaborating, the pair exchanged huge numbers of emails (65 Magnus estimates!). ‘We talked a lot about life,’ Magnus tells us. ‘Biomaterials are initially dead materials, but you have to add life, that’s the tricky part. Cells like some environments and not others.’ Magnus explains his work a little like a coral reef, which is made by organisms depositing layers of calcium on to existing structures. His work is to develop the environments that allow natural building processes like this to flourish.

Working collaboratively with Magnus, Jenny began developing a 3D printer. Bone is made from calcium hydroxylapatite and collagen, and using a vegan alternative to collagen, Jenny started printing a shapes matrix. ‘The process is a printer carried out by the human body, just as bone builds itself layer by layer. It can print anything really,’ she explains.

For Magnus the process was helpful to shed a different light on his research. ‘In science you work in network, you have to bring in people with different knowledge and skills but discussing it with someone from a creative background was very fruitful,’ he says. ‘It’s not so far-fetched as you might believe,’ he adds. This is where our material research is going, using 3D printing to make ideal environments where cells can reproduce.’

Living Systems by Studio Aikieu and Dr Solmaz Hajuzadeh

In late summer Swedes celebrate a kräftskiva, or crayfish party, where friends and family get together to eat the tasty crustaceans. Much as Jenny Lee of design and research practice Studio Aikieu enjoyed the gathering, she was always a little dismayed about the amount of waste. But one human’s trash is another human’s treasure, and Jenny decided to investigate whether crayfish shells could be transformed into a material to make sculptures and even furniture.

What Matter_s paired Jenny with chemical engineering researcher Dr Solmaz Hajizadeh, who specialises in using polymers (larger molecules made from smaller units joined together) for applications as diverse as tissue engineering to wastewater treatment. Their six-month collaboration began with lengthy discussions, where Jenny got her head round Solmaz’s research. ‘The key challenges with any cross-discipline work is communication and commitment,’ explains Jenny. ‘Although we may speak the same language, every field has a different understanding or interpretation of that language. In order for a project like this to develop it requires a certain level of commitment, in terms of open-mindedness, a genuine interest to learn and support.’

After a lengthy research period to understanding the biological and chemical make-up of the crayfish shells, the pair began to develop a viable material made from chitin, a biopolymer found in its surface. First, the crunchy casings need to be washed and all the flesh removed, then they’re dried at a low temperature for several hours. After that the shells are ground and mixed with sodium hydroxide, allowing for the chitin to be extracted. The project is still a work in progress, but the results of their collaboration can be seen in the film we made for the project.

‘The dialogue shared with Solmaz was the most valuable aspect of the project,’ says Jenny. ‘Much of her insight and perspective on things, has really shaped my own views and understanding. For example, we often assume using biological (natural) processes are more sustainable than using chemical processes but it is all dependent on what you are trying to achieve. In some cases, chemical processes can actually be more sustainable.’

For Solmaz, it was Jenny’s excitement to try things that she’ll take away from the project. ‘What fascinated me was Jenny’s creativity and how she experimented with different ingredients from her kitchen cabinet and incorporated them into her work. I hope I can be that brave in my own work.’

Array by Wang & Söderström, Professor Magnus Borgström and Dr Vilgailė Dagytė

Nanowires are one of the smallest structures in modern technology, so tiny they’re only visible through an electron microscope. ‘Quite early in our creative process we understood that it would be impossible to use real nanowire, due to its extremely small scale and that there are no methods to make any bigger volumes,’ say Tim Söderstrom and Anny Wang, of digital design studio Wang & Söderstrom.

Nanowires used in solar cells, the duo explain, can be compared with a forest of antennas. Because of the extra surface area caused by this geometry, they can absorb maximum light. To the human eye, these forests of nanowires look just like a plain flat surface. 'Due to this "invisibility", rather than trying to show the nanowire by looking at real nanowires on a flat surface, we decided to approach this assignment by focusing on the qualities of nanowire and its geometry to make something in a scale which is more comprehensible,’ the pair say.

The result is a small ‘radiator’ made from aluminum prongs and filled with a phase change material (PCM). The PCM melts above 21ºC, absorbing thermal energy from the room, and solidifies below it, releasing heat back into the space. ‘Like nanowires ability to absorb a great amount of light from the sun on a small surface, this object will be able to absorb the excess energy generated by people and equipment, and store thermal energy within a small volume,’ say Anny and Tim.

Researcher Dr. Vilgaile Dagyte says, ‘I think it was challenging to visualise something that is usually so small and at the same time to not stray too far from the research scope. It’s hard to take something that has an important function, but look at simply and convert it into an eye-catching intriguing art piece that still truthfully depicts the function.’