A publication involving researchers from Politecnico di Milano explores how craft practices, material experimentation and digital technologies can be combined to create new possibilities for materials design.
Entitled A Materials Design Practice Between Crafts, Creativity and Technology, the paper was written by Sofia Soledad Duarte Poblete, Yi Shiang Lin, Alessia Romani, Jian-You Li and Valentina Rognoli.
The research examines a hybrid approach that brings together analogue and digital practices. It considers how material tinkering, craft processes and digital tools can support the development of emerging materials and possible applications while strengthening the cultural, environmental and economic value of local resources and knowledge.
The paper draws on the international RE:Fish workshop, carried out in Taiwan with the support of the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) and with the involvement of Prof. Yi Shiang Lin and Prof. Jian-You Li. The workshop brought together designers, craftspeople and researchers from different backgrounds to experiment with a biobased material derived from fish scales and explore possible applications through 3D printing.
The study identifies two complementary pathways. The first is a material-driven approach, in which participants experimented with formulations, ingredients, textures and material qualities while continuously adapting the digital fabrication process. The second is a technology-driven approach, focused primarily on 3D-printing parameters and on how digital fabrication can transform the material’s expressive and sensorial qualities.
The findings demonstrate how hands-on experimentation, local materials, collaborative design and digital fabrication can complement one another. Based on the workshop’s results, the authors also provide recommendations for developing hybrid and collaborative materials-design practices.
The themes explored in the publication are closely related to the wider areas of interest addressed by Tracks4Crafts, particularly the evolving connections between craft knowledge, materials, creativity and digital technologies.
The paper was published in the proceedings of the Cumulus Conference “Design Across Borders: United in Creativity,” held in Monterrey, Mexico, from 16 to 18 October 2024.
Publication details
A Materials Design Practice Between Crafts, Creativity and Technology
Authors: Sofia Soledad Duarte Poblete, Yi Shiang Lin, Alessia Romani, Jian-You Li and Valentina Rognoli
Published in: Design Across Borders: United in Creativity – Cumulus Conference Proceedings Monterrey 2024
Publisher: Cumulus
ISBN: 978-952-7549-06-3 (PDF)
Series: Cumulus Conference Proceedings Series, No. 13
Photo credits: Sofia Soledad Duarte Poblete – Politecnico di Milano.