Trash Treasure

Materials like scallop shells, clamshells and fish offal are usually abandoned by people, and cannot be processed in proper ways in developing countries. In my hometown Dalian, a coastal city, there're diverse kinds of seafood, which are indispensable at dining tables. This project integrates with seafood buffet restaurants, aimed at converting mass seafood wastes into useful materials by recycling and specially processing them. Natural binder fish gelatin can combine with seafood shells with different materials, and then generate hard and waterproof mixed materials with different skin textures and densities. Outer fibers of dried fish maw glue possess physical properties similar to plastics. It is a kind of natural, innoxious and durable material. This project is designed to be a series of conceptual light and furniture models with both soft and hard materials, which can be abandoned sustainably together with organic garbages. The project stirs our focus on common materials whose values are ignored in daily life. It can mitigate pollution on environment, reduce production and transportation costs, and become part of a sustainable future.

Biomaterial design

2023