Eggshell

Burn'tShell Project

Most local food production places can't reuse their food waste. While these wastes can be recycled, they are unfortunately ignored along with their potential. One of the first production places that comes to mind are patisseries that consume a lot of eggs. Eggshell, one of the food wastes that is consumed excessively but doesn't play a role in recycling, is being revalued for the up-cycling process with Burn'tshell. An average of 30 eggs' shells are being up-cycled for the production of one lighting unit. The design idea, in which the food waste of local producers are transformed into an opportunity in the context of sustainability, is built around this purpose.
The biodegradable outer shell consists of two different materials. There is one recipe with tapioca starch for the shells, and another recipe with eggshells for the bottom pieces. Since the process is based on the material's own potential, the colour change (blight) is only achieved with production methods without the need for use of colourants.
The design process is based on the potential and performance of the material. The uncontrollability creates self-forming pieces, hence it's an important part of the design and production process. The recipe with tapioca starch takes shape in organic forms with its own performance; it determines its' own path and limits itself. Therefore, limits and potentials are ambiguous. This uncontrollability creates the base of a discovery process that responds to the design needs.
A product family that speaks to each other was created with a series of possibilities created by the 2 main forms. They maintain the feeling of familiarity by referencing each other with overlapped repeating forms. The primary purpose in this product family is not to obtain a finished product; it is the continuity feeling of rawness, the texture that support this feeling, and the flaws that represent the process leave open doors for future potential.

Making process

Studio Burntshell collects the eggshells from the local bakeries, so the process starts by collecting. Then they boil and bake the shells to avoid any bacteria, afters processing them into dust they prepare the recipe with the eggshell and the alginate then put them into moulds. After a few days (which depends on the weather) we take them out of the moulds and then file them to make the finished products smooth.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.