ALGAE BOTTLE

DesignMarch 2016 is an international design festival that takes place every spring in Reykjavik and right now is one of the most interesting exhibition, “from fish-leather lamps to high-tech prosthetics, lava chairs to smartphone design, originality, resourcefulness, individualism and innovation continue to shape Icelandic design, whether in form, function or use of materials.”

Ari Jónsson, who studies at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, exhibited his project during this year’s edition: the designer felt an “urgent” need to develop a replacement material for plastic. “I read that 50 per cent of plastic is used once and then thrown away so I feel there is an urgent need to find ways to replace some of the unreal amount of plastic we make, use and throw away each day,” Jónsson told Dezeen. “Why are we using materials that take hundreds of years to break down in nature to drink from once and then throw away?”

He began studying the strengths and weaknesses of different materials until he came across a powdered form of agar, a substance made from algae. When agar powder is added to water, it forms a jelly-like material. After experimenting to find the right proportions, Jónsson succeed in creating a bottle that as long as it is full of water, it will keep its shape, but as soon as it is empty – it will begin to decompose. More on Dezeen

 

All Rights Reserved to Ari Jónsson

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