MATERIALS LAB @ csw

PURPOSE

To promote material investigation, as it relates to design. This material investigation will seek answers to how and why things are made in order to expose students to ways in which those materials can be innovated and used in creative ways. This exposure can begin the development of sustainable or thoughtful materials use to build a better world.

SCOPE

Different materials have vastly different properties. Understanding and manipulating these materials, and their properties, have unique effects on the outcomes of the products built with those items. This course will allow students not only to understand different materials and how they react to different elements and manipulations, it will allow students to build their own materials from scratch--think bioplastics, kombucha, synthetic materials from food waste, and perhaps mycelium polymers.

Dedicated to hands-on and in-depth material investigation; that journey could take students in many different directions.

Students will be required to record their recipes and process steps, along with specimens, to support program growth and resource collection for future students.

FUTURES

Students would be able to explore a wide range of materials and manipulations or hone in on refining and manipulating one type of material for process or end product in conjunction with future projects.

Materials created in the d-block class could be stored as part of the Materials Library @ CSW for future reference in the French Gym. This materials collection--and the documentation on how to make materials--will be the heart of the fabrication space--an active and grounding center to student experimentation, innovation, and design; made by students, for students.