Luke Hillery
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Axowear originated from a brief of designing for a colonised Mars. The exploration of material conservation within a colony of finite resources resulted in the development of a novel bioplastic derived from Potato starch, the byproduct of a Martian agricultural ecosystem.
// The Material
Much of the conversation about Mars has focused on topics such as terraforming, architecture, crops & space flight. Whilst these are all extremely important things to consider, the matter of what will a Martian colony wear in the everyday had been neglected. Resources on Mars are extremely scarce; there is solar energy, soil, CO2 and little more. Potatoes have been recognised as an ideal vegetable to grow on Mars due to their nutritional density and ability to grow in harsh conditions.
Our research led us to focus on creating useful materials from the byproducts of potato farming. The Potato starch bioplastic developed can be made rigid, soft, extruded into yarn or 3D printed. To demonstrate the potential of the material, the team developed a modular, monomaterial shoe designed for life on Mars.
// The System
// Exhibition
During our development phase, we were invited to show our work in the Mars Symposium at the Design Museum. We designed an interactive exhibition which invited the public to put forward their ideas of what Mars footwear should look like. This was part of the Moving to Mars exhibition, and proved to be invaluable both due to the industry contacts we were able to make and due to the public feedback which propelled our designs forward.