LYNX x Łódź Design Festival
Austeja Platukyte is a creative researcher working in between the disciplines of material design and science, technology and craft. Her progressive solutions are systematically linked to the theme of organic matters. Her latest project focuses on experimental packaging from algae-based material.
This project is a result of an experimental practice that was aimed at finding a substitute for synthetic plastic using only natural resources which would, later on, form a new cycle of nature. The designer has tested a number of natural materials as well as their mixtures before she came up with the most suitable solution – biodegradable algae-based material.
My experiments with materials also figure as an inseparable part of the final solution. This way I want to show the processes that lay behind the final product – says Platukyte.
The biodegradable algae-based material perfectly holds its shape, is waterproof and protects the product against possible damage. Made of only two natural ingredients, this material is wholly organic and compostable. After the product is consumed, its packaging can simply be composted or used as a fertilizer. Even if this packaging has been discarded as waste, due to natural processes and micro-organisms it will again become a part of nature, forming new layers of chalk and will cause no harm to the environment or other forms of life all.
Hungry for more?
While working on this project I have followed a zero-waste philosophy and sought to shed light on an increasingly prevalent problem of environmental pollution. – says Platukyte
Platukyt in her practice explores the fundamental ecological problems, emphasizing subjective emotional involvement and questioning the values of an anthropocentric society.
Contemporary Lynx is a proud media partner of Łódź Design Festival 2021. We have been publishing a series of articles on innovative and talented designers who have been finalists of the make me! 2021 – an international design contest for young designers at the Łódź Design Festival.
