London's new Institute of Making

workshop image courtesy of the Kings College Materials Library

The King's College Materials Library has always been more than a collection. It is home to a group of three researchers who collectively and individually combine the disciplines of science, art and design. While their library is a gem to visit, they are notorious for holding all kinds of materials-related events, where they can connect with the wider public.

The Sound of Materials at the Tate Modern, for example, was a guided audio tour that described how pieces of art would sound, and the physics behind it all. They presented an evening called Flesh, at the Wellcome Collection, which was a multi-sensory presentation about fruits, meat, skin, and more.

Their broad scope means that they examine and present many aspects of one material that would ordinarily be separated by the boundaries between disciplines. That's why it's very exciting to hear that the Kings College Materials Library is expanding! Not only are they growing, they are evolving into the very proper Institute of Making, housed at Somerset House and set to open in autumn 2011. (Genius name, the Institute of Making, which seems to be a nod to the Institue of Materials, Minerals and Mining - a very old global organisation dedicated to material engineering).

Zoe Laughlin, curator of the project, says, "we look forward to hosting more events, exhibitions, workshops and all round materials extravaganza under the broader umbrella of our new project, whilst keeping the unique feel and approach of the Materials Library."

If you're reading this, we assume you have a materials obsession too. So, if you're in London, Zoe suggests that you sign up to their mailing list to find out about amazing upcoming materials events: http://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/contact

Links:
http://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk
http://www.materialslibrary.org.uk/

Surface Design show 2011

For architects and designers interested in discovering new materials, this year's Surface Design Show (themed Material Thinking) should be a great source. Registration is now open. Read more:

The Surface Design Show focuses exclusively on surfaces for building design. The event is where architects, interior designers and building specifiers go to find inspiration from hundreds of innovative interior and exterior surface products. Now in its 8th year, the show will return to Business Design Centre on 15 - 17 February 2011. The show will bring the industry together to network, source new products, seek inspiration, engage in educational seminars and join the programme of live debates and portraits.

Material Thinking is the show’s theme – the exhibition will focus on highlighting the thinking that goes into the development and selection of materials for architecture and design.

At Surface Design Show you will be able to:

Meet your industry face-to-face to form and strengthen industry connections
Explore alternative surface solutions from key exhibitors such as: Quantum Glass by Saint Gobain, Nike Grind, Sally Angharad Designs, Beltrami, ege carpets and more who use the show to not only display their products but find out your current and future requirements.

Visit www.surfacedesignshow.com to find out more about the show.

Puff & Flocking NYC (finally !)

Yo

Here are the visuals for the breaking news... we are so so busy (being on a break? working some more? visiting the family? witnessing weddings? if only you knew !)
FABULOUS SHOW and being in New York, obviously awesome.




Puff & Flock sponsored (we wish) by samsung mobile






saaaaaaammmmples !!!


Elisabeth's shower curtain "Spiky" is our star, check this "starfish" kid out :)


Jenny, intrigued, and intrigued the crowd with her magnetic wall coverings


Kathy's cosy woven light corner


Melissa's street corner, Urban Upholstery



The Cookie Wardrobe and Mess Eater Wallpaper,
I met the people from Kidrobot <3 wooooooooooh



Our cool neighbours, "Dead Good", at the end of the show :)
Summarizes well the physical state on tuesday night.

THANK YOU FOR COMING !
The fact some people knew us there already was a BIT scary but hey isn't it why we are doing it for?

LOVE, >Amelie + Puff + Flock

STATIC'S FANATICS

This was the scene at the Dana Centre on Wednesday night. Dozens of people gathered to witness an evening of poetry, textile experiments, and scientific phenomena all relating to the topic of static electricity.

After an introduction by Sue Mossman of the Science Museum, visitors were free to visit several stations, each manned by an electrostatics expert.

Some of the experts were ordained scientists; others were textile designers with an apetite for electromagnetism. Dr. Zane Berzina was one of them - she demonstrated her e-static shadows samples. Dr. Mark Miodownik of the infamous Kings College Material Library trio was on hand with a "shocking" static generator, and stunned the curious visitors. An atmospheric scientist from the NOAA captured our attention with an electrostatic field detector. Francis Geeson presented us with an eclectic display of conductive textile artifacts.

Geeson's collection included samples from the past 20 years of her work. As a textile artist who has collaborated with Philips, toy companies, and composers, she has experimented with a range of avant-garde ideas. She showed us shimmering fragments of electroplated fabrics, which looked like a hybrid between forest moss and precious jewelry. She also showed some sound-emitting textiles that respond to the variable resistance of human touch. Some of those pieces dated back to the early 90's, when she tried to embed them into the fur of plush toys.


Her wonderful world is a fascinating reflection of what has happened in the realm of electronics+textiles. She has been curious about the relationship for years, and actively pursuing novel approaches to the subject as new materials and processes become available. Her latest interest is in colour activation technology, or dyes which change colour in response to their environment. Can't wait for the magical results!!

MA Textile Futures at CSM : Year 1 Final Biomimicry group work sample

Hey this is Amelie reporting live from the teaching world... I would like to show here some absolutely great work by my group of students in MA Textile Futures year 1 at CSM... They worked as a team of 9 people, under my supervision, like a trend agency to produce inspiring imagery linked to Biomimicry (taking inspiration from nature's principles to inject into design solutions and surfaces). This is only an extract from the great work they produced. Most of them had never done any video work before... :

Anemone Hands : a visual definition of biomimicry

The braided suit : inspired by bio-luminescent underwater creatures

ideas for these clips by Dana Haim and Laerke Hooge Anderson.

below : the students team of 9 called themselves TOTEM 9 and came up with a nice trend book display.

work by Seveen Muneer, Ginna Lee, Suphichaya Vanasarikul, Siwen Huang, Lucy Hall, Francesca Warren, Dana Haim, Moon Young Lee, Larke Hooge Anderson.

more on the MATF website home page : www.textilefutures.co.uk

What NOT to wear in Outer Space

A specimen tray of LDEF shown pre-orbit (left) and post-orbit (right)

NASA is preparing to launch the Materials Science Research Rack (MSRR)into space. This refrigerator-sized laboratory will depart Earth in July 2009 in order to hitch a ride on the International Space Station. It will carry sample cartridges of materials such as space polymers, semiconductor crystals, and ceramics, which will then be subjected to various experiments.

The MSRR mission is preceded by two earlier generations of space materials experiments. In 1984, the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was sent into orbit by the space shuttle Challenger. Its 57 experiment trays, attached to a heavy cylindrical strucutre, exposed materials to the synergistic effects of space for the first time. Testing had previously been conducted in Earth-based labs, but only one or two environmental effects could be simulated at any one time. The LDEF remained in orbit for 5 years longer than originally planned, after the Challenger tragedy caused NASA to suspend space missions for some time.

The LDEF continued to orbit until it started to drift back towards Earth's atmosphere. NASA sent the space shuttle Columbia to pick up this threatening mobile materials lab in 1990. Upon its return, the samples were sent back to over 200 sources. From universities to private corporations, many labs were eager to learn about the space environment through its effects on materials.

The next step in advancing materials for use in space was the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) Grand Opening. A briefcase-like container was filled with samples and deployed on the International Space Station. The exposure lasted for one year, after which a new briefcase would be installed. There were 6 MISSE experiments in total. One of the more interesting investigations was from Siemens, who wanted to find better inks for marking spacecrafts. Because such printing inks have been developed for Earth's conditions, they aren't designed to endure the UV levels of space. Siemens is hoping to change that so that parts of spacecraft can be identified in orbit and upon return, with barcode-like markings.

"The" Puff and Flock briefcase model

Briefcase model design by Jenny Leary and Amelie Labarthe

This is how we will introduce ourselves and what we do if you physically get to meet Puff & Flock...
We sort of have a big admiration for Mary Poppins (well I do...) and got inspired by the old school annoying salesmen knocking on your door to sell you all sorts of things. We are not trying to sell anything but hope to transmit a bit of the spirit of what we do and what inspires us. We carry moods and some of our "Stuff" material library samples. Real suitcase happening in a near future as this genius piece is only foamboard. We live for low tech engineering...
Puff & Flock is an itinerant group, we make the place wherever we go. Our next station is NYC, and Milan... Meet you somewhere on the road, fingers crossed and more details from Jenny soon.

Our Materials Library: Birmingham Interiors

Middlesex University Teaching Resources!

Gel Wax from www.mutr.co.uk

You know how, when you see one of those great movies that inspires you to promote it to everyone you know, and as soon as you begin to rave about it, your enthusiasm overflows into a sermon that people back away from you slowly? Well, that's what writing this post reminds me of. I'm on a mission, but I don't want to scare you. It's just that this website is amazing!!!

Kits! Experiments! Videos of materials in action. Smart material sample pack! Plastic bags full of plastic bags. Downloadable bookmarks, Postcard Crystal Radios - MUTR is the place to go.

You can even e-mail in your science questions. If you don't have any science questions yet, you definitely need to order some random jar of weird stuff ASAP.
www.mutr.co.uk/index.php

Tate Materials Library

Video and info about the Kings College Materials Library at the the Tate Modern.

What Can The Matter Be?