Art and Materials Lab 材料研究室

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Art and Materials Lab 材料研究室

Art & Materials Lab is a research-based lab and the archive that focuses on studying sustainable materials and art.

12/08/2026

[ The Metamorphosis of Mud ]

The Metamorphosis of Mud by BENTU Design transforms fish pond sludge from the Pearl River Delta into unfired ceramsite panels. Using recycled pond silt, alkali-activated geopolymer technology, and fly ash-slag binders, the project turns aquaculture waste into architectural surfaces for walls, partitions, paving, and interiors.

What is compelling here is that the material carries an ecological story, not just a technical claim. By avoiding high-temperature ceramic firing, the panels suggest a lower-carbon route for regional building materials. The question for future use is whether contaminated sediment can be made reliably safe, scalable, and traceable across construction systems without losing its local material identity.

Designer: BENTU Design

All images courtesy of BENTU Design

05/08/2026

[ Kurasu Pop-Up ]

Kurasu Pop-Up by Atelier L turns the geometry of a pour-over dripper into a compact coffee pavilion in Beijing’s Taikoo Li Sanlitun. The temporary structure uses reflective steel, folded volumes, and an operable glass roof to create two connected vessels for brewing, display, seating, and street-facing interaction.

What is compelling here is how a small retail structure becomes both service space and urban interface. For future pop-ups, food kiosks, and temporary pavilions, materials like steel and glass can support speed, precision, and atmosphere, but their value depends on whether the structure can be disassembled, reused, and adapted beyond a short brand moment.

Designer: Atelier L
All images by Jin Weiqi, courtesy of Atelier L

@追蹤者 @頭號粉絲

29/07/2026

[ Perfect Sense ]

Perfect Sense by Iga Węglińska explores how restriction can intensify perception. The series of six object-masks uses 3D-printed structures, silicone artificial skin, and microplastic fibres to reshape the face as a speculative sensory interface, positioned between a prosthetic device, a wearable artefact, and a material experiment.

What is compelling here is not the futuristic surface alone, but the way the masks question how bodies adapt when one sense is limited. For future wearable design, performance, and therapeutic tools, materials like silicone and printed internal “bones” could support new sensory languages if designers also address comfort, consent, repair, and the ethics of altering perception.

Designer: Iga Węglińska

All images by Mila Łapko, courtesy of Iga Węglińska

@追蹤者 @頭號粉絲

22/07/2026

[ GOURDO — The Mushroom Lamp ]

GOURDO, the Mushroom Lamp by Justin Wan, turns agricultural leftovers into a warm, characterful light. Its body combines mycelium, luffa fibre, and an organic biocomposite substrate. As oyster-mushroom hyphae grow, they bind shredded plant matter around the luffa’s natural framework, creating a light yet strong base. The softer outer luffa becomes a porous shade, gently filtering light while using nearly every part of the fruit.

More than a beautiful object, GOURDO shows how designers can work with growth instead of forcing materials into perfect uniformity. Its irregular surface records a living process, making each lamp slightly unique. Future versions could support low-impact lighting, interior panels, furniture, or small architectural elements. However, wider use will depend on reliable durability, moisture control, safe production, and scalable cultivation. GOURDO’s greatest promise is not simply replacing plastic; it invites a more regenerative relationship between waste, biology, and everyday design for a circular material future.

Designer: Justin Wan
Website / professional profile: Justin Wan on LinkedIn
Instagram:

追蹤者@頭號粉絲

15/07/2026

[ Casa Mínima ]

Casa Mínima by Estudio Mínima renews a ruined vernacular stone cabin in Cantabria without erasing its rural identity. The project preserves the original dry-stone masonry, pitched roof, and exterior stair, while adding a high-performance inner envelope made of organic insulation, brick, and lime plaster.

What feels important here is the decision to focus on energy performance within the existing shell rather than replacing the architecture itself. For future rural housing, restoration, and low-impact retrofits, Casa Mínima suggests that reclaimed stone, local oak, and layered construction can make heritage buildings more efficient without turning them into sealed, generic interiors.

Designer: Estudio Mínimabio

All images by Erlantz Biderbost and ElPájaroDelPas, courtesy of Estudio Mínima

@追蹤者 @頭號粉絲

08/07/2026

[ Birdhouse by Kids ]

Birdhouse by Kids by Taekhan Yun turns children’s drawings into small architectural habitats for birds. Developed in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the workshop translates intuitive sketches and clay models into sculptural birdhouses made with wood, cardboard, and paper, then finishes them with crayons and a protective acrylic lacquer.

What is compelling here is not only the charm of children’s imagination but the shift away from human-centred design. The project asks how material learning, species awareness, and participatory making can shape future educational spaces. For design workshops, schools, and community gardens, hand-built structures, low-cost materials, and non-human users become a quiet way to rethink care.

Designer: Taekhan Yun

All images by Taekhan Yun, courtesy of Taekhan Yun

@追蹤者 @頭號粉絲

01/07/2026

[ Bad Posture Chairs ]

Bad Posture Chairs by Mara Bragagnolo turns non-conforming sitting into design logic. Made from stained birch plywood, the collection supports gestures often treated as “incorrect”: curling up, sitting cross-legged, leaning sideways, folding one leg forward, or constantly shifting position.

What is compelling here is not simply the chair’s playful form, but its refusal to make the body obey furniture. For future interiors, schools, studios, and care spaces, designs like this suggest that comfort should be more plural, repairable, and materially direct. Plywood construction, adaptive seating, and body-led ergonomics become tools for inclusion rather than correction.

Designer: Mara Bragagnolo

All images by Federica Borgato, courtesy of Mara Bragagnolo

@追蹤者 @頭號粉絲

24/06/2026

[ DELULU ]

DELULU by Studio Carraldo turns uncertainty into a walkable material experiment. Developed for Munich Creative Business Week 2026, the installation uses jute fabric, movable partitions, and a low-tech spatial system to create a shifting labyrinth where visitors navigate unstable paths, enclosed pauses, and unexpected encounters.

What feels relevant here is not simply that jute can replace synthetic exhibition materials, but that it can shape its own language of softness, disorientation, and touch. For future exhibitions, public interiors, and learning spaces, materials like this could support lower-impact construction while asking designers to rethink repairability, reuse, and the emotional weight of temporary space.

Designer: Studio Carraldocarraldo

All images by Jonas Zauels, courtesy of Studio Carraldo

@追蹤者 @追蹤者 @頭號粉絲

16/06/2026

[ Casa 6-3 ]

Set on the mountain slopes of Mindo, Ecuador, Casa 6-3 by Baquio Arquitectura turns a small retreat into a sensitive instrument for reading the cloud forest. Its triangular form, lifted on slender supports, reduces ground impact while opening the interior toward panoramic views. The project’s character comes from three material ideas: polycarbonate, laminated timber, and a translucent envelope. The polycarbonate skin softens daylight, catches rain shadows, and lets forest colours enter the room, making weather part of daily life.

Inside, the timber frame gives warmth and structural clarity, balancing economy with durability. More than a temporary shelter, Casa 6-3 proposes an adaptable model for building in fragile landscapes. Its future value lies in showing how lightweight architecture can evolve, change, and even replace its outer skin while keeping its core structure intact—a humble yet persuasive lesson for ecological hospitality and low-impact housing.

Designer / Studio: Baquio Arquitectura, directed by Jose Granda Jaramillo.
https://www.baquioarquitectura.com/

@追蹤者

14/06/2026

[ Slow2 ]

Slow2 by Su Yang Choi turns light into a gentle material experiment. Developed for Salone Satellite 2026, the installation uses seaweed-derived agar as a biodegradable skin, wrapped around a steel armature and warmed by LED light. Its two interlocking tubular forms reinterpret baramgil, the Korean hanok idea of aligned openings that guide air, sight, and depth through space. Coloured with natural pigments from paprika and gardenia, the work moves from earthy translucency to a richer red glow, making sustainability feel sensory rather than instructional.

What is compelling here is not simply that seaweed can replace plastic, but that it can create its own language of softness, layering, and shadow. In future interiors, exhibitions, and lighting systems, materials like this could support lower-impact production while inviting designers to rethink atmosphere, repairability, and emotional connection. Slow2 suggests that biodegradable design can be poetic, structural, emotionally luminous, relevant and quietly radical today too.

Designer: Su Yang Choi

@追蹤者

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