The series of works above come from famous MIT Professor, Architect, Designer, Artist and the person who coined the term Material Ecology, Neri Oxman. Oxman heads the Mediated Matter group in MIT Media Lab where they discover new ways to think about the intersection between man, technology and nature.

As show cased last week, Oxman was a big part of the Silk Pavilion project. Biomimicry is “-not only about geometry, but also continuity.”

Minotaur Head with Lamella(2012), Neri Oxman

This piece is the perfect example of Material Ecology. Right now in our design process, a lot of the time is spent thinking about concept, design and functionality. However, Material Ecology speaks of tying up the entire design process through technology and materiality. The piece had Oxman’s head scanned but the design process was heavily informed by medical data, particularly, the thicknesses of the different components of a head; the skull, tissues and muscles.

Combining the hard tissues(bones) and soft tissues(skin and muscles) would inform the materials used, thickness and material composition to create certain portions of the piece. This would mean the helmet was comfortable, functional, accurate biological to material composition and was created through a design process that understands the core essence of Biomimicry.

The idea of implementing materiality as part of the design process excites me and I believe if more designers understand the critically of Material Ecology, the quicker we can create sustainable and more ecologically aware technology.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SEe6k5Co7uM9jRrwtP2Vn-Mq59u9Zgc8P00OT5X_Nc4/edit?usp=sharing