Luffa Lab by Mauricio Affonso

非常感谢Mauricio Affonso将以下内容授权gooood发行。更多请至：Mauricio Affonso on gooood 
Appreciation toward Mauricio Affonso for providing the following description:

巴西出生，先后在加拿大和伦敦求学的工业设计师Mauricio Affonso建立了丝瓜实验室，探讨丝瓜这种植物材料的新运用。丝瓜，在中国人的菜谱总是扮演着清新的角色，新绿的色彩，清香的风味。而成熟丝瓜里面的网状纤维，也就是我们熟知的丝瓜络，则常常用来代替海绵，用作洗刷灶具及家具甚至是我们的身体。具有弹性，过滤性，吸水性的生态材料—丝瓜络，在Mauricio Affonso的引领下展现出不一样的魅力。

INDIGO Acoustic Tiles

丝瓜墙面吸音砖。这些深浅不一的蓝色丝瓜瓷砖的染色剂为牛仔布印染工业废水，这些多余的工业废水是有毒的，看看中国新塘那糟糕的环境就知道了（全球40%的牛仔产自新塘）。然而丝瓜却可以将这些工业废水再吸收利用，成为漂亮而无害室内蓝色墙面装饰瓷砖。丝瓜络是理想的声学绝缘体，因此这款丝瓜瓷砖也是很好的墙面吸音材料。

Acoustic tiles made from moulded Luffa. The indigo colour is achieved by reusing wastewater from the denim-dyeing industry.

Like most textiles, denim-making starts with plain white cotton. What many people don’t realize is that blue-jean process is poisonous to water supplies in communities such as Xintang, China.

Luffa’s highly absorbent fibbers can be used to soak up these harmful dyes that would otherwise be discharged. The result is a series of beautiful indigo wall tiles suitable for home and office interiors.

Luffa Splint

丝瓜夹板。网状纤维结构的丝瓜络是一种轻便而又足够坚固的自然材料。通过压缩技术和粘合剂可以制成天然同时低成本的医疗用丝瓜纤维夹板。给病人提供便宜，轻质，透气性好，抗微生物和容易降解的好夹板。

Luffa is a natural smart material comprising of a complex network of cellulose that forms a structure that is both extremely lightweight and strong.

The Luffa Splint is a natural, low-cost medical device made from luffa fibres using compression moulding technology and a water-based thermoset binder.

The result is a low-cost, lightweight, breathable, antimicrobial and biodegradable medical splint with superior function and benefits to the end user.

LUFFA LAB

丝瓜实验室以巴西城市某社区为依托，进行各种关于丝瓜材料的新运用。在巴西 Minas Gerais，Bonfim 的一个社区中，丝瓜就是当地人们唯一经济来源，他们依靠种植丝瓜获取丝瓜络进行各种加工从而获得报酬。而大多数设计师又容易忽略材料的可能性。丝瓜络是一种纯天然的智能材料，纤维网状结构，多孔坚固又轻巧，吸水性好也抗菌，在包装，过滤器，低成本夹板和声学吸音板等领域有极大的潜力。同时因为该材料的天然性也容易被降解，是很多材料的良好替代品。Mauricio Affonso希望能为丝瓜络找到一个广泛的应用范围，将其推向市场。

Luffa Lab is an award winning project lead by Brazilian born designer Mauricio Affonso, a recent graduate from the Design Products program at the Royal College of Art, London.

Luffa Lab explores new applications for luffa material. Although usually associated with scrubbing your back in the shower and being constantly mistaken by a sea cucumber, luffa is actually a fast growing tropical vine plant from the Cucurbitaceae family – a plant family consisting of many different squashes, melons and gourds.

Working in collaboration with a luffa community in Bonfim a city in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Mauricio learned about origins of luffa, from the cultivation of luffa to the production of bath sponges and the local craft community who depend on luffa as their only source of income.

Concerned with the environmental sustainability of materials, and with the lack of connection most designers have with the development of materials, Mauricio has even been growing his own luffas.

Little explored beyond its conventional use as a bath sponge, Luffa is natural smart material. Luffa fibres form a complex network of cellulose that act like an open cell foam material that is both extremely strong and lightweight. Its vast range of properties also include being highly absorbent and antimicrobial – features that Mauricio discovered make it a viable material for applications such packaging, filters, low cost splints and acoustic insulator.

As the recipient of the 2013 Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Enterprises in Design Mauricio will focus on developing and commercializing the luffa splints, as a low-cost and biodegradable alternative to synthetic ones, as well as helping communities that grow luffa in Brazil to refine their range of products. He also hopes to continue his research into the luffa fibres with the goal of finding a wide range of applications and durable consumer products using luffa material.

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