Wastewater management tends to be a big problem in rural India. In villages like Kundli, located on the outskirts of Dehli, hundreds of factories have popped up in a matter of decades, often releasing water contaminated with chemicals directly into the ground. The problem is that these factories, which manufacture items like plastics, rubber, jewelry, and polyester, typically don’t have enough space for high-tech water treatment solutions, even if they could afford them. The pollutants in turn make their way into groundwater and nearby waterways, contaminating the local bathing and drinking water.

The Indus tile system’s algae-based bioremediation process involves placing a wastewater tank on top of the building and then allowing gravity to funnel the water though “veins” in the “leaves.” The designers traveled to India and observed the production processes of textile dyers in Panipat and bangle makers in Kolkata, where various processes release different types of heavy metals into the wastewater. The team found that one particular type of algae was able to reduce cadmium levels in the water by 10 times within 45 minutes.

Fabricated in Khurja, India, which is known for its ceramics, the Indus tiles are made of clay and deeply textured to hold onto a viscous hydrogel containing the most promising pollution-busting species of algae. The vein-like channels are shaped by an algorithm to optimize their ability to absorb pollutants. As the water flows over a tile, the microscopic algae cells absorb and store the substances for energy. The hydrogel acts as a “biological scaffold” that keeps the algae alive, and it’s biodegradable. The materials required to prepare the hydrogel and algae cells can be supplied in a powdered form and reapplied to the tiles as needed.

The modular tiles fit together into a beautiful pattern using half-lap joints, so individual tiles can be replaced as necessary without disassembling the entire wall. This also makes it easy to scale the wall size up or down, tailoring it to each site. In the future, the designers hope to integrate a second phase in which the saturated hydrogel packed with heavy metals is removed and sold to high-tech companies, which can use the metals in their own manufacturing processes. The Indus tiles are set to undergo performance tests in the UK and then a pilot project in India itself.

The creators imagine adapting Indus wall tiles to different regions and needs, making them from local materials like stone or even waste materials. Different tiles could be tailored to different pollutants, infused with the particular type of algae that works best in that context. Given that the end result is so beautiful, it’s not hard to imagine the concept extending to residential applications, too. Just imagine installing a wall of these at the edge of your own roof instead of a gutter, cleaning rainwater for personal use later on.

The post Leaf-Shaped Wall Tiles Full of Living Algae Absorb Pollutants from Rainwater first appeared on Dornob.

For Mustardo, these fleshy ceramics offer a chance to play with ancient forms, infusing them with the characteristics of human bodies. The sculptor’s series “Anthropophorae,” “Toroid,” “Mug,” “Pitcher,” and “Flablet” make objects traditionally seen as hard and solid appear as soft and mutable as unbaked bread dough. Flablets and “Logoliths” are both puns on the clay tablet, “referencing the form and function of those great, antiquated, and often fragmented recording devices to examine certain mechanisms of visual language.” Their forms droop and dimple, looking like you could poke them with your finger and leave a mark.

The Toroid series starts with a torus (donut) shape, bulging and distorting it in a variety of hues and textures. Mustardo first began using toroids to test glazes in his studio, but soon became enamored with the simple form itself. During a residency in Rome, he closely observed Baroque architectural ornamentation of amphorae and krater with ribbed undersides known as “gadrooning.” Applying this technique to the entire shape, he stretches them into gourd-like sculptures, referencing the early days of humanity when actual hollowed-out gourds were used in place of the pottery that would soon be invented and mastered.

The Mug and Pitcher series take shapes we’re all familiar with and make them strange, abstracted, almost like objects that have been dropped deep into the sea to be encrusted with salt and barnacles. Anthropophorae is perhaps the most striking of all, inspired by the Ancient Greek and Roman amphora jar with two handles and a narrow neck. Exaggerating their roundedness and giving them human-like poses suddenly creates a sense of sensuality that didn’t really exist in these objects before.

Much of Mustardo’s work revolves around “broad, reverential notions of the vessel, the body, and language,” as he explains, animating the inanimate and perhaps making them more appealing to self-obsessed humans in the process. The objects are pushed and pulled, concave and convex, humorous and serious. When he covers them in a shimmering PVC coating for them a stippled, warty appearance, they become even more surreal. Some are finished with a contrasting coat of glaze for an eerie glow.

“Attempts are made to continually dissect processes, revisit forms, and reframe themes to agitate evolution and antagonize static thinking,” Mustardo says. “Objects are focused upon as vital witnesses and participants, reflections and poems, animate and imagined.”

The post Maxwell Mustardo’s Whimsical Ceramics Aren’t Afraid to Get Weird first appeared on Dornob.

India experienced a record high heat wave this past spring, with temperatures reaching upwards of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This led to a massive landfill fire outside of Delhi that burned for weeks, and even caused overheated birds to fall from the skies.

While modern air conditioning systems exist in Indian cities, the majority of the population is still without access to such technology. And since the greenhouse gases emitted by AC units contribute to global warming, trying to blanket the country with them may not be the best solution anyways.

That’s where Ant Studio’s eco-friendly idea comes in: using recirculated water to evaporate and cool the air as it continually flows down a beehive-shaped stack of clay tubes.

Evaporative cooling techniques date back to the ancient Egyptians. They would fan porous jars of water in their chambers, enjoying some temperature relief as the evaporating water took some of the oppressive heat with it. The Romans also employed water and clay to cool their houses, allowing the liquid to course through pipes in their walls.

Building a prototype of their brainchild outside the Deki Electronics factory in Uttar Pradesh, India, Ant Studio inserted cylindrical clay tubes into a rounded steel frame positioned on top of brick and tile basin. The Beehive’s water pump continually sends recycled water from the industrial plant up to the top of the structure, where it then flows down the surface of the clay. The multitude of clay pipes provides a larger surface area, increasing the cooling effect. Temperature measurements showed that the Beehive reduced the surrounding air to 97 degrees Fahrenheit from its previous 107 degrees.

After carefully studying various materials, Ant Studio chose clay as a material for the beehive because of its hygroscopic, or water attracting, properties. The designers found that clay carries a negative charge that bonds with the positive pole of a water molecule, allowing it to absorb water in both vapor and liquid states. Additionally, clay is completely recyclable, as it contains no complex chemicals or components.

The entire system is energy efficient and less expensive than traditional air conditioning. The use of recycled water from the factory’s existing supply minimizes waste. The water tank only needs topping off roughly once a month ,and the recirculating pump uses a small amount of electricity, making the Beehive a very economical cooling mechanism.

In areas where electricity is unavailable, the system could also be converted to a “zero-energy” model, with water being manually poured over the pots once or twice a day. While it would not have the same cooling power, it would have some effect and could still be easily built and maintained from local resources.

Ant Studio is also excited about employing pottery as part of the art/cooling device as a way of reviving what it sees as a fading ancient art. If the Beehive were to gain widespread traction, it could generate more work in the pottery market and help train new artisans in the trade.

The post This Terracotta Pipe Art Doubles as a Sustainable Cooling System first appeared on Dornob.

All-in-One Vertical Wall Planter

Mars Green is made of clay to emulate soil, making it easy to grow vertically. That clay is also capable of absorbing a lot of water — up to 1800 milliliters (60 ounces) at a time. And the LED light ring isn’t just decorative. It actually provides your plants with the light they need to thrive. The grow light has virtually endless programmable configurations, not just in a rainbow of hues, but also strobing, shifting, and flickering patterns (the creators claim there are 16 million options).The idea is to create a miniature self-contained habitat similar to what we might need to turn the real Mars green.

“We discovered that unglazed clay has great water absorption properties, which is how we came up with the idea to make a 3D planter as opposed to a regular pot,” the creators explain. “Many versions and a lot of trial and error led us to the perfect process to create clay that’s as fertile as soil. What makes Mars Green easy to set up and maintain is the special clay mixture and the many pores created during the baking process.”

How It Works

The red ore used as the base is rich in trace elements like iron, manganese, and potassium, which are essential to most plants’ growth. Its porosity also makes it extremely water-permeable. It’s capable of supporting many types of plants, including ferns, lichen, mosses, ivy, creeping Jenny, tillandsia, peperomia, creeping fig, and more.

Exactly how do you plant into a hard surface? There are a few different methods depending on which plants you choose. Gather ferns and spread their spores on the surface, apply powdered moss, or stick bits of lichen and seeds into the tiny cracks. Add water, and they’ll spring to life. If your plants need support growing from the vertical surface, strands of elastic cord are included.

Kickstarter backers get early-bird pricing on the Mars Green vertical wall-hanging planter, just $59 each. You can also snag two planters for $98. Orders will ship this September. When this round of crowdfunding is over, the price of each unit will rise to $99, and the designers will make the product available to the public later this year.

About the Designers

In their own words, “YAT is a team of technology enthusiasts and designers. We specialize in the development and design of highly innovative products. We love to create our space with greenery, and we’re also loyal RGB players, and we love the tech-savvy home atmosphere. In 2019, our studio moved to Dehua, where ceramic products are famous all over the world, and we learned a lot about the possibilities of clay creation. After two years of polishing, Mars Green is finally on the market, hoping that it will bring more fun to your life.”

The post Mars Reimagined: Glowing Wall Planter Turns the Red Planet Green first appeared on Dornob.

Concrete manufacturers run advertisements in these countries professing the superiority of their product, one bearing the tag line “concrete is a strong material for strong men.” Occasional collapses of mud walls during heavy rainfall have influenced opinions as well. But even as villagers express new preferences for concrete over mud, some architects, tribal chiefs, and government officials are working to preserve the use of traditional materials, especially in the face of climate change.

With its high thermal mass, mud is capable of keeping interiors cool even in the hottest desert temperatures. Concrete blocks, on the other hand, allow heat to pass right indoors, where it’s trapped even after outside temperatures cool at night. The materials used to build mud structures are also plentiful, locally available, mostly biodegradable, and virtually free. An annual application of a waterproofing mixture consisting of motor oil, clay, and cow dung keep rain from penetrating the walls, which can be up to three feet thick. Plus, patterns and drawings can be carved into the mud before it cures for a decorative effect.

Some of West Africa’s most stunning vernacular architecture is made of mud. That includes the Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world’s largest mud brick building, which was designed in the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style. The first mosque on the site was built around the 13th century, and the current one dates to 1907, built by Djenne’s traditional guild of masons. The walls are decorated with bundles of rosier palm sticks, and ceramic half-pipes extend from the roofline to direct rainwater away from the structure.

Other significant mud buildings include the Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso, a series of mud tower houses in northern Togo called Koutammouko, the gate to the Emir’s Palace in Kano, Nigeria, Dogon mud houses tucked into the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali, Larabanga Mosque in Ghana, and traditionally decorated Hausa structures in Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Benin, as well as other West African countries.

Architect Clara Sawadogo is among those working to make mud popular again, demonstrating through her projects how the traditional materials can be applied to contemporary designs for those who want a more modern appearance. And in cities like Koudougou and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, brand new mud structures are showing off what’s possible. The Burkina Institute of Technology by Francis Kéré (2020), for instance, is made of poured clay and features a secondary facade of eucalyptus for additional passive cooling.

These structures serve as great examples of how vernacular architecture made of sustainable local materials can and should be prioritized over homogenized developments lacking aesthetic and cultural connections to their settings, even in the midst of the global housing crisis. They’re beautiful, inexpensive to build, rooted in local traditions, and well equipped to withstand climate change without the addition of high-cost, energy and resource-intensive modern technologies. There’s a unique version of this kind of architecture almost everywhere on the planet, or the potential to adapt traditional knowledge and skills into new but similar ideas.

The post West Africa’s Traditional Mud Architecture is a Low-Cost Sustainable Marvel first appeared on Dornob.

Sweden-based artist Alisa Lariushkina uses sculpting tools to fashion the intricate details on her re-creations of famous paintings, mostly those of Van Gogh and Monet. She also creates bright, inviting landscapes inspired by the world around her.

Describing her work, Lariushkina says, “I make figures and framed landscapes of clay. I developed my own style in 2015. I use various materials for sculpting: air-dry clay, paper clay, acrylic paints, crystals, and beads. …I can tell you that I came to [clay sculpting] quite spontaneously…Since then, I improved the technology, found the best materials, and made my products more durable and of better quality. I have made a lot of designs and still do new ones.”

With no formal training, the artist played around with the Japanese air-dry polymer material until she learned to bend the clay just right with her hands. The various pieces are then glued in place individually. One picture of an autumnal tree shows her work in process. She first paints the background and then typically works from the bottom up, filling in the scene with clay, placing larger chunks with her fingers, and using her tools to turn and twist the smallest ones into tight spaces.

One observer on Reddit commented on the dreamlike perfection of Lariushkina’s handiwork, explaining: “At first I thought this was AI generated. Then I realized it’s way too good.”

Air-dry clay, as the name suggests, hardens at room temperature, as opposed to more traditional art oven-bake clay. Lariushkina’s choice of medium means no kiln or excessive curing is necessary fo the substance to solidify into a permanent tactile shape.

The three-dimensional effect is playfully impressionistic. Her landscapes seem to come alive with layered curves of swaying green or gold grass and swirling blue skies. Wavy ripples are often texturally contrasted with a wash of tightly wound coils. Sometimes she shapes the clay into bulbous tufts to act as rocks or clouds in her layouts.

Her scenes depict everything from bucolic fields and seaside sunsets to marshlands and ocean floors. And while those landscapes are stunning, Lariushikina has also posted pictures of beautifully sculpted animal ornaments. In these, her clay spirals and loops fill the insides of polar bears, mice, butterflies, and delicate hummingbirds. The artist has even turned her curlicues into unique jewelry like tiny brooches and necklaces.

Alisa’s work is primarily available on her Etsy shop LiskaFlower, but she sells prints of her versions of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and “Cypresses,” as well as one of a summer field, on other platforms. She recently stated on her Etsy shop that she tries to update her offerings with at least one new landscape a month. Her style has been so popular lately that she stays busy making custom pieces year-round.

Fans can also follow her work on her Instagram page.

The post Alisa Lariushkina’s Air-Dry Clay Art Turns Old Classics into Swirling 3D Landscapes first appeared on Dornob.

Presenting at the country’s Southern Guild, her 12 massive and unique sculptures are collectively titled “iLobola,” the name for traditional South African marital negotiations between families to pay for a bride. Up until recently, that payment most commonly came in the form of cows, as represented in Poswa’s art by the horns attached to each piece.

“I knew I wanted to tell a story about ilobola,” says Poswa, who often draws on her Xhosa heritage in her work. “Because I was clueless, I needed to know how the whole process works, especially because this is something that would be a part of my life; if I’m not the one for whom lobola will be paid, then it will be for my daughter, or if [I have a son], he is the one that will pay lobola. So, somewhere, somehow, I will be involved; It’s part of who I am, it’s my culture.”

In the commercial economy of South Africa today, cows are no longer the main source of income for most tribe members, so cash is frequently exchanged instead as bride-wealth. And though some may raise criticism that the lobola custom treats women like a commodity, Poswa unapologetically defends it for its unifying abilities. Its purpose, she says, is “ukwakhiwa kobuhlobo,” or the building of relations between the two families.

“During the negotiation process, the families really get to know each other. They talk about what bonds the couple together and even identify potential pitfalls to the marriage. When the couple faces problems down the line, they have this safety net to turn to. I think it’s a really beautiful structure that brings stability,” she explains.

The statues are all roughly six feet tall and feature bright colors and patterns, along with individually shaped bases that hint at various human and animal forms. Constructed from hand-coiled clay and combined with cast bronze, the collection is just the latest in the Cape Town native’s career spent honoring her culture. One of her earlier anthologies, “Umthwalo,” paid tribute to the traditional women tasks of “gathering wood, collecting water, and taking bucket loads of clothing to the river for washing.” Another series, “Magodi,” looked at the sculptural forms of traditional African hairstyles. And of course, her “Ukukhula” pieces, themselves an examination of conventional male and female roles, were acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2019.

“There are many things you can call me,” Poswa notes. “I’m an artist, a businesswoman, a breadwinner, I am a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a survivor. My inspiration comes from my culture, and from the path I walked as a woman. I am the woman I am because of my heritage. I stand in tribute to the other women who have shared the load…I celebrate my heritage, and I forge my own way: my work is an act of intention, and this is what must be known about African women.”

Born in 1979, the artist studied surface deign at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology before opening the Imisa Ceramics studio with fellow ceramicist Andile Dyalvane in 2006.

Of her artistic process, Poswa explains that “working with clay is like a dance, it will follow if you lead it. But once it goes in the kiln, anything can happen. It’s like a grown-up child: you have to let go.”

More photos of “iLobola” and Poswa’s other work are available on her Instagram page @zizipo_poswa.

The post Zizipho Poswa Tackles South African “Bride-Wealth” Tradition Through Ceramics first appeared on Dornob.

Working with 3D printing company WASP, the architecture firm has designed a home that almost seems to rise out of the soil like a living organism.The home’s spherical form takes full advantage of the sculptural abilities of 3D printing, with textural curving walls topped by a giant skylight that lets daylight flood into the interior. The printing process also allows furniture and fixtures to be built right into the form, including things like kitchen cabinets. The home includes a bedroom, living area, simple kitchen, and bathroom, as well as a living tree.

TECLA, which takes its name from “technology” and “clay,” is the first eco-habitat to be built with multiple WASP Crane 3D printers. Two printing arms were synchronized as part of the construction using software capable of optimizing movements and avoiding collision, allowing the home to be built much faster than usual. It’s also a striking example of “circular housing,” in which the reusable, recyclable materials taken from the local terrain can be returned to the Earth after the house’s lifespan is over. That makes it a nearly zero-emissions project that can be recreated just about anywhere in the world.

Even better, if this same model is repeated in other locations, it can adapt to the local materials, traditions, and architectural vernacular. Principal architect Mario Cucinella stresses that one of TECLA’s strongest qualities is the fact that it can serve as a response to the changing world climate. It can be especially useful in areas that haven’t been industrialized, allowing them to quickly craft their own sustainable architecture at a low cost using whatever natural materials are available. In this case, the clay abundant in Ravenna offers benefits like thermal mass and natural ventilation, making it self-insulating and energy efficient.

“For this project, Mario Cucinella Architects not only explored housing solutions in formal aesthetic terms, it also studied the building’s shape in relation to its climate and latitude,” the firm says. “In addition, the composition of the earth mixture responds to local climatic conditions and the filling of the envelope is parametrically optimized to balance thermal mass, insulation, and ventilation according to the climate’s needs. TECLA is a composition of two continuous elements that through a sinuous and uninterrupted sine curve culminate in two circular skylights that convey the ‘zenith of light.’”

Taking inspiration from the potter wasp, WASP aims to develop viable construction processes using digital fabrication, producing 3D-printed houses in the shortest possible time and in the most sustainable way possible. “The oldest material and a state-of-the-art technology merge to give new hope to the world,” says WASP’s Massimo Moretti.

The post TECLA: A 3D-Printed Dome Home Made of Locally-Sourced Raw Earth first appeared on Dornob.

A new collaboration between architects and marine scientists at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) is using modern technology to make it happen. Their new method of 3D printing specially designed reef tiles could boost coral’s chance at survival by providing an anchor for “corals of opportunity,” which are dislodged coral fragments that might otherwise just float away and die.

The Marine Park is home to more than three-quarters of reef-building corals in Hong Kong, as well as more than 120 fish species. Mass mortality events, coral bleaching, and bio-erosion all put them at risk. Offering the coral a structurally complex foundation for attachment prevents sedimentation, which is when sediment run-off from the shore either directly suffocates coral reefs or gets mixed into shallow coastal waters, reducing the available light coral need to photosynthesize.

In July 2020, marine scientists deployed the 3D printed terra-cotta “reef tiles” made by the HKU Robotic Fabrication Lab and seeded them with coral fragments at three key sites within the Marine Park covering about 40 square meters total (about 430 square feet), including Coral Beach, Moon Island, and a bay near the WWF Marine Life Center.

The 3D Printing Media Network reports some fascinating details on the project:

“Three coral species historically common in the Marine Park, namely Acropora, Platygyra, and Pavona, were selected for the study. They have different growth forms, representing the branching ‘staghorn,’ massive ‘brain’, and foliose ‘plating’ colony forms, creating a diverse habitat for other marine species. Marine scientists at SWIMS will investigate the success of restoration using the mono-, mix-, and polyculture of the three coral species, while researchers will monitor the performance of corals on the tiles for the next one and a half years.”

“The 128 pieces of reef tile with a diameter of 600mm were printed through a robotic 3D clay printing method with generic terra-cotta clay and then fired at 1125 degrees Celsius. The design was inspired by the patterns typical to corals and integrated several performative aspects addressing the specific conditions in Hong Kong waters.”

The use of environmentally friendly terra-cotta instead of plastic is particularly interesting here, especially since it’s usually associated with architecture and design. In fact, the tiles look like decorative art pieces you might have as a sculptural element in your garden. Fired in a kiln, the 3D printed tiles are durable enough to withstand underwater conditions. Hopefully we’ll get an update from the researchers once the coral attach — it’ll be interesting to see whether the patterns of the tiles affect the formation of the coral, or if they disappear altogether under a blanket of new marine life.

The post 3D-Printed Tiles Will Restore Coral Reefs in Hong Kong Waters first appeared on Dornob.

If there’s something about these sculptures that makes you a little uncomfortable, that’s because Cavener designed them that way. Proving she’s adept at written communication as well as visual, she explains exactly how she subverts primitive animal instincts to infuse her wild subjects with meaning that humans can connect to.

“On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension,” says Cavener in her artist statement. “Beneath the surface, they embody the consequences of human fear, apathy, aggression, and misunderstanding. Both human and animal interactions show patterns of intricate, subliminal gestures that betray intent and motivation. The things we leave unsaid are far more important than the words spoken out loud to one another. I have learned to read meaning in the subtler signs; a look, the way one holds one’s hands, the incline of the head, and the slightest unconscious gesture.”

“I rely on animal body language in my work as a metaphor for these underlying patterns, transforming the animal subjects into human psychological portraits I want to pry at those uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human. Entangled in their own internal and external struggles, the figures express frustration for the human tendency towards cruelty and lack of understanding. Something conscious and knowing is captured in their gestures and expressions. An invitation and a rebuke.”

Cavener’s process is just as unique as her emotional approach to her art. She starts each new body of work by writing about her ideas and creating 20 or more thumbnail sketches and 3D models of the main characters, all revolving around a central theme for an exhibition. The creatures are custom designed for the space they’ll be inhabiting, too, influenced by these unnatural built environments and their architectural details.

The sculptures begin as pipe and dowel armatures, to which the Montana-based artist then adds clay. Suddenly, her foxes, hares, goats, wolves, and other creatures come into physical form, their fur consisting of impressionistic daubs and swirls. She refers to her many preliminary sketches, models, and Photoshop renderings of the exhibition space as she works, always considering how they will interact with each other, their setting, and the viewer.

In Human, Cavener’s new book examining nearly two decades of her work, she reveals her experimentations with unusual materials like smoke, black sand, and crystallized sugar to give her sculptures a sense of depth, texture, or shimmer. In some cases, the clay interacts with unexpected media like jewelry, textile, and natural found objects like wasp’s nests.

Human is a luminous and absorbing way to take in Cavener’s work, and you can purchase it on her website, where she has also catalogued most of her creations along with additional details about her methods.

The post Beth Cavener Sculpts Expressive Animals Using Sugar, Sand, and Smoke first appeared on Dornob.

Made with a base of blue-black glaze dotted with oily-looking spots, the bowls were likely unappreciated in China, where rainbows were considered unlucky. Somehow, a number of them made their way to Japan, where they were prized by collectors and valued for use in tea ceremonies. The style was eventually recreated by Japanese ceramicists, but today only a small number of artists still work with the style.

The beautiful crystalline patterns on the bowls appear spontaneously during the firing process, which are different from the “oil spots” found on other forms of pottery baked in the Jian kilns of China. Modern potters, for all their new techniques and technology, can’t seem to replicate the workmanship of the originals.

A new crowdfunding campaign called “TENMO” pays tribute to their uniqueness while enhancing the qualities that make them look like “the cosmos in a cup.”

The campaign’s official Kickstarter page reads: “Tenmoku, also known as Jian Ware, is a legendary, precious type of porcelain that produces unique designs that are both mystical and unpredictable. It’s impossible to produce two identical Tenmoku porcelains. The name of Tenmoku comes from the word ‘Tenmo(天目).’ It means the eyes of the sky in Chinese and Japanese.”

TENMO founder Tom Fu adds that “other than just being a cultural symbol, many elderly people from China and Japan appreciate Tenmoku for its potential ability to soften water and enhance flavor thanks to the special clay and glaze used to produce [it]. One time when I was getting my morning cup of coffee, I serendipitously used a Tenmoku teacup for my coffee instead of my normal coffee cups. The feeling I got when drinking my coffee out of the Tenmoku was unlike anything else I had experienced with common coffee cups.”

“Drinking my morning coffee out of the Tenmoku that day made me realize that there are no authentic Tenmoku coffee cups on the market currently and that the delicate and exquisite designs of Tenmoku perfectly match the elegant and fine flavors of coffee.”

The result is a Kickstarter campaign aiming to revive the tradition, created by an engineer of magnetic materials in collaboration with master ceramicist Sun Whenzha. They’re made of the very same natural iron-rich clay from Fujian, China that created the originals, and they feature a nano-porous surface that’s believed to enhance the flavor of coffee and tea.

The TENMO campaign page contains lots of fascinating details about the science behind the clay and why its iron content affects the glaze in a way that produces these gorgeous nebula-like patterns. And while the campaign itself may have already ended, you can still follow the project to be notified when the cups are made available to the public.

The post TENMO: Cosmic Coffee Cups Revive an Ancient Chinese Craft first appeared on Dornob.

Through her series “Alien Autopsy,” Swedish artist Åsa Stenerhag experiments with these feelings. The artist, who taught herself sculpting techniques by watching YouTube videos, engaged in an unusual collaboration with design firm Massproductions for the installation, which opened at the firm’s showroom in Stockholm.

The series of stoneware sculptures was designed to be displayed atop Massproductions’ new Landa table, a minimalist design with the unusual ability to support a long surface with just four to six wide-spaced legs. The design uses two parallel steel beams to support the long tabletops, creating “significant and comfortable voids” underneath. The result is streamlined and lightweight, leaving plenty of room for chairs and objects atop the table to shine.

“It’s easy to make tables, but we decided to make it difficult by developing a system that can make very long tables, with fewer table legs and without visible fittings” says Chris Martin, Design Manager and Co-Founder of Massproductions.

The designers took inspiration from NASA’s lunar module for the table, which in turn guided Stenerhag’s creative direction. Looking at the ceramic sculptures, you can see why the installation is called “Alien Autopsy” in a nod to a controversial 1995 short film by Ray Santillis. Stenerhag used unconventional media and methods of coloring them, like gouache, shoe polish, and linseed oil, so they soaked up the color unevenly.

“It started with a request to do something in connection with the launch of Landa,” she explains. “The name of the installation challenged and helped me to further develop the design language. It’s like lighting a spark. When parameters are set, ideas are triggered. The idea started from the long table. How we could tell a story, create a feeling, an exciting one, unified together. For me, creation is primarily about intuitive work though also about channeling a feeling. In this case, it is a life energy, which is shaping and explor[ing] itself. Both on the inside and the outside.”

“My work usually starts with a feeling, an energy and desire that then comes down to material, surface, and shape until it becomes a whole. It’s also about being fully present in what I do. Clay is a living material and must be taken care of in different ways throughout all stages of the drying process. It is a constant collaboration between me and the clay. For me the process is as important as the result. That’s what drives me.”

Whatever your feelings may be about Stenerhag’s sculptures, there’s no denying that “Alien Autopsy” is an interesting way to bring fine art and product design together around a fun, albeit somewhat odd, narrative.

The post Alien Autopsy: A Series of Strange Ceramic Creations by Åsa Stenerhag first appeared on Dornob.

The “House of Flying Tiles” contains surprises and delights at practically every turn. Some observers, approaching its exterior screen of clay tiles dangling from wires, find it very strange. What could the purpose of this contraption possibly be? Is it purely artistic? Not exactly. It defines a small area of the yard for private lounging without cutting off access to fresh air and views of the sky, while simultaneously shading a facade that consists almost entirely of glass. But it also sets the mood for a quirky residence designed for optimal engagement with nature — and optimal daylight for reading.

Architect Daniel Moreno Flores made it his mission to ensure the house was highly customized to his clients, expressing their unique identity while meeting all their needs and desires. For starters, the setting needed to remain as pristine as possible, with not a single tree removed to make way for the house. Ultimately, “House of Flying Tiles” was oriented to views of the adjacent mountains above all else. Thankfully, privacy is not much of an issue its rural location, making all of those glazed walls more livable than they might seem.

Flores explains that “the design of the house was born in a search of the essence of the owner, for which it is inquired on many of the topics related to it. From that essence, [I] identified a lot of creativity, a playful spirit, innocence, exploratory features, surprise seeking, sensory experiences, aim to discover, valuing processes, [and an] interest in mutations and changes in space. In this process, much of the characteristics of the owner’s character were absorbed and personal meanings were worked on. Due to the passion of the owner for the illustrations, it was established that it was fundamental to get involved in the owner’s logic and make illustrations as a design methodology (a book was made).”

“After understanding this constellation of ideas, we sought to encourage spaces that allow timelessness so that the owner was able to immerse in reading. These spaces seek an intensification in the relationship with some externalities such as the mountain, the low vegetation, the sky, and the Guirachuro (a local bird species). For the location of the house, an event was held with the owner in which we met to be able to witness the sunrise. This was fundamental to understand where the sun rises and to have that relationship in mind during the whole project.”

The house makes use of abundant natural and local materials like Abeto wood, reclaimed eucalyptus staves from an older home in the city, and clay tiles. The slanting planes of its exterior create diagonal lines connecting to the views or nearby trees and give the house a dynamic feel. All of its volumes are arranged in a way that creates “spaces that are discovered” as you enter. Even the angles at which light will enter the house at different times of year have been considered, with some glass configured so that rays of sunlight will enter the home vertically on the equinoxes.

The living room, dining area, and kitchen on the home’s lower level are bright and. A private, darker chamber containing the bedroom and bathroom is also set within this main volume, its roof creating one of the upper platforms and its exterior covered in open shelving. In place of conventional doors, bookcases and panels slide to reveal access.

To get to the office area one level up, simply pull down a set of ladder-like steps, and swing them back up again when they aren’t needed. A second, higher interior platform contains a reading nook, and yet another ladder grants access to the roof.

If one thing’s for sure, it’s that there’s certainly no shortage of heights and angles from which to enjoy the land in this house.

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Designed by Columbian architect Octavio Mendoza, Casa Terracota is located in Villa de Leyva, Colombia: just over 20 minutes from the town’s central plaza, yet worlds away from any other type of architecture. Made completely out of clay, the 5,400-square-foot structure is a reflection of the artist’s love for the surrounding landscape. The project was inspired by a conversation he had with his niece, when she planted the “what if” idea that eventually evolved into creating an entire home out of clay. Twenty years later, Mendoza refers to the structure as the largest piece of pottery in the world.

After planning out the design, he began sculpting the clay one section at a time, allowing the material to dry and harden naturally in the sun. After that, he baked the material to a hardened finish. This required building fires in each section and keeping them lit for days on end. The result is a home that challenges modern architecture to a competition in sustainable practices, artistry, and endurance.

Crafted from the natural elements of wind, fire, water, and earth, Casa Terracota is the ultimate form of sustainable architecture. In addition to being completely organic, it’s also completely fireproof. That means it’s a nearly indestructible solution to areas susceptible to wildfires. Even better, these natural elements are also self regulating, keeping cool on hot summer days and warming overnight using the heat retained during the day.

Endless unique features embellish the design with whimsical touches, including contoured walkways, built-in counters, and natural lighting. Even the handle alongside the stairway is a one-of-a-kind expression of natural elements.

As the project developed, Mendoza realized it was a gift to the planet and an opportunity to inspire other architects to return to eco-friendly building options. He says: “The earth allows us to work organically and artistically because there are endless possibilities to lift it and we have not yet discovered them. That is why I tell young architects to learn to look, to look the other way because the world is very wide and their perspective can change.”

The project began in 1999 with the intent to marry a building to the land using organic materials. Since its completion in 2016, Casa Terracotta has remained opened for daily tours and is used as a meeting place for artists and craftsmen who continue to teach, grow, and learn.

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Passive solar design is a no-brainer — yet the conventional way to deal with building facades that will be subjected to the hot, unrelenting sun is still just to insulate them, add some blinds, and plan to use a lot of air conditioning. It’s high time more architects and builders consider the ways the sun’s energy will affect a structure, and integrate some simple features that will make its interiors far more comfortable all year long.

Often low-tech and low-cost, passive solar techniques reduce energy costs and maintenance by tailoring designs to the climates around them. Orientation of the roof, windows, and facade with the position of the sun in mind, proper ventilation and insulation, shading, and thermal mass all make a big difference in interior temperatures.

The latter comes into play in a big (and beautiful) way in a new home by Manoj Patel Design Studio. Located in Gujarat, western India, the modern home uses clay roof tiles in an unexpected fashion, displaying them along the east facade in a pleasing pattern. What’s more, 40 percent of the tiles are reclaimed from the waste of other construction projects.

Clay is known for its thermal properties, retaining much of the energy it absorbs to cut down on the need for mechanical heating and cooling. It’s also highly durable, non-toxic, long lasting, and recyclable. Clay tiles on a sunny facade can absorb a lot of heat during the day, releasing it after dark when it’s cooler.

This isn’t the first time Manoj Patel Design Studio has experimented with clay roof tiles. Previously, the designers cut v-shaped clay tiles to create a wavy pattern on the facade of a house in Vadodara, India.

The architects add: “Here the ratio of 40 percent of waste clay tiles at free cost and 60 percent of new clay tiles at 10 INR per piece were collected, cut into six to eight one-inch wide parts, fixed in with [a] chemical solution against the available perpendicular surface of wall at 45 degrees, and crafted into a customized series for obtaining an everlasting beauty… Furthermore, the layering of th[ese] horizontal and vertical clay tiles is [based on] sun’s movement from south to west throughout the day as per Indian context, which keeps the area shaded by reduction in temperature.”

“An illusionist display is casted on the uniform surface of the wall through these angular patterns, which transform the solid form into more organic mass. Thus, this dwelling carved out its own character through contrasting red-colored earthy textures and volumetric masses, becoming a distinguishing dwelling among the surrounding street.”

In 2017, Manoj Patel Design Studio won a first place RTF Sustainability Award for its modular plantable screens made of clay tiles, which can be added to surfaces outside homes in places that receive a lot of solar exposure. Not only can you establish a vertical garden within these tiles, but you can also tuck lights into them for a look that’s even cooler after sunset.

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In terms of the timeline of human civilization, Classical Greece (which existed between the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.E.) was a long time ago. In terms of Earth’s overall history, hardly a moment has passed. A new series from artist Zachary Eastwood-Bloom bridges the gap between the ancient and the contemporary by mixing Greek statuary with the look of computer glitches.

A graduate of the Royal College of Art and the current artist in residence at the Scottish Ballet, the Glasgow-based sculpture and multimedia artist found a way to combine the hands-on practice of working with clay with a slew of digital tools. He says these new means of making art allow us to make anything we can imagine, “barring some inherent earthly restrictions like gravity.”

His use of them here adds an extra layer of fascination to the sculptures, which are still recognizable to the keen eye of an art fan or historian. The way in which the forms are warped almost makes it seem like they’re being sucked into another dimension.

Most of the silhouettes are exaggerated, pinched, pulled, stretched, and squiggled. Others are faceted, fragmented, or rendered as plotted pen drawings. Almost all of them are made of classical materials like white marble and bronze, though a few consist of less conventional media like borax crystals and sterling silver.

“I reference historical works quite frequently, but it is with the eye of a 21st-century translator,” Eastwood-Bloom tells ChromArt in an interview. “I think that what I make referring to these works is just another stop on the journey for the original pieces. ‘The Assimilation’ which is based on ‘The Laocoön and His Sons’ has been reproduced and translated numerous times throughout history — my interpretation is one more stop along its journey through time.”

“I find it fascinating how people think. I think through making sculpture; through three-dimensional form, material, shape, and surface. Other people think through numbers, words, sounds, movement, digital code, etcetera. I am interested in working with people who think via different modes to me. One thing that is interesting in the digital age is that a lot of people work using digital technology now. This means that their digital information can be changed into different mediums; words can become sound, sound can become form for example.”

During his time with the Scottish Ballet, Eastwood-Bloom has experimented with performance as well, with some of these pieces very much in keeping with the overall classical theme, like “The Three Graces.”

You can keep up with Zachary Eastwood-Bloom’s work at ZacharyEastwood-Bloom.com or on Instagram. He’s also a founding member of Studio Manifold, “a group of artists and designers brought together by a shared enjoyment of material and process based in East London.”

The post Glitched Greek God Statues Bring Ancient Figures Into the Digital Age first appeared on Dornob.