Material Driven Design

Malmö University is an innovative, urban and international institute of higher education, located in the city centre of Malmö. Malmö University is characterized by global engagement, community involvement, and a multidisciplinary, challenge based approach to education, research and collaboration.

At the School of Arts and Communication (K3), we work with interdisciplinary education and research in media, culture and design. We combine traditional scientific and academic theory with artistic methods and practical elements.

My name is Thérèse Rosén and I am in my final year of Product Design education at Malmö University.

In my degree project, I have worked with Material Driven Design and with a self-designed bio-based DIY material called RosaNovum. RosaNovum consists of 100% Roses and is compostable. The project is about creating a new material from a residual waste in the flower sector through a Material driven design process for a circular economy.The project aims to shed light on the possibilities of utilizing a valuable renewable raw material that today usually goes to incineration.

A circular economy is based on the principles of designing away waste, where waste is seen as a raw material resource. To achieve a fossil-free society, materials from renewable raw materials will be needed. Materials have a direct impact on a product's total climate impact. The products presented are made of the material RosaNovum and are concept suggestions for how the material can be used. The material can be broken down by itself and placed in the compost after use. RosaNovum contains the same amount of carbon dioxid

My name is Moa Olsson and I am studying my second year at product design at Malmö University.

 My project is based on a course with a purpose to manufacture biological materials from the city’s waste. This resulted in a fruit plate based on resources from the cities gardens and parks, resources that’s no longer eatable or taking care of, in this case apples and potatoes. The goal was to take advantage of few and only biological ingredients in the manufacture to decrease the products total environmental impact in all its stages.

The final material became scratch resistant, flexible and in some angles transparent. After a few hours of hardening the material is possible to shape or as in this case cast into a desired form.

The product is a concept meant to speed up the ripening process of fruit and berries. The apple emits ethenyl gas that’s in fact has that type of effect on some types of raw materials. In this case the main actor is avocado, that’s often get thrown away because of the insecurity of its quality. The plate is simply a way to easily control what and when something ripens.

My name is Signe Persson and I study Product design at Malmö University.

Before studying I worked a couple of years at a café with a lot of focus on coffee so when it was time for the course in Material driven design I chose to work with waste from the coffee industry. Cascara is the shell and pulp from the coffee berry and is the main ingredient in my material. Traditionally the cascara is brewed like a tea but since the demand and consumption is very low compared to coffee I thought it would be interesting to see what other possibilities there are for the cascara. 

There’s about 10 million tons of coffee produced in the world each year and cascara is a big waste product. Casacara leather makes use of the waste from the coffee plantations to produce a material which offers properties like flexibility, strength and compostability. The leather is lined with burlap which can be found in coffee sacks, which gives the leather stability and resistance to wear and tear.

In my work with this material I could see use for it in replacement to traditional leather. With the material, I want to encourage curiosity about alternative, exciting and more sustainable materials.

My name is Katarina Halla Hellgren and I am studying my last semester of the product design program at Malmö University.

Exploring sustainable, alternative materials is something that has interested me for a long time. My thesis therefore presents a biomaterial made of waste from eggshells. The purpose of the project has been to create a material that can easily be made at home from ingredients that are often already available. The material reminds of ordinary clay and can be shaped into any object that the user actually needs, which hopefully also means that the product will have a longer life.

My name is Linnea and I currently study product design at Malmö University.

With this project I wanted to create a material that would challenge our view on what waste is. The inspiration is dinner party waste and the main ingredient is aqua faba.

    The result is a material with a robust stonelike look that is soft to touch, flexible and strong. It has the potential to be used in various products and can utilize the household waste stream.  The process makes consumers into creators and the resulting material is 100% compostable, closing the loop in a scenario were nothing is considered waste.

My name is Simon Sjöberg and I am study Product design at Malmö University.

I am currently studying my fourth semester on the program and the currently courses  are “Service Design” and “Design, Publics and Engagement”. After the summer, I will begin my final year of the education, where I will either be an internship or exchange studies.

I developed my project LökLäder during the course "Material Driven Design", one of my favorite courses so far. During the course, I have developed a 100% biodegradable bio leather made from onion shells from red and yellow onions, collected from grocery stores around Lund. Totally free. The shells have been mixed down into small pieces that are mixed with other ingredients. The different shades and patterns of the scales make all material samples unique and none similar to the other

Coffee Chaff Material

My name is Emma Thyni. The Coffee Chaff Material is a result of a study from my bachelor’s degree project at Malmö University. I wanted to explore the possibilities of creating added value on unused residual material through a material driven design process. By using coffee chaff, a residual material from coffee roasteries I developed two biodegradable materials. One strong and malleable material as well as one more transparent material with a uniquely developed pattern. Both materials have a pleasant scent reminiscent of roasted coffee and caramel. My ambition is to further develop the materials and explore the possibilities to replace existing unsustainable material.

emma.k.thyni@gmail.com