Adaptive Materials and The Role of Design[ers] (Research[ers]) in Shaping Transformative Futures

Fonseca Braga, Mariana; Blaney, Adam; Ozkan, Dilan; Pelit, Emel; Hardy, John

Abstract

Imagine if our structures (buildings, cities) or objects (medical prosthetics, clothes) could be grown, self-healed and have multiple properties (shape, textures, composition etc) tuned or adapted to meet fluctuating demands. This could significantly enhance how designs can be made increasingly bespoke, reduce associated waste (financial, pollution, resources) and could begin to enable materials to be shared or flexibly utilised. The research presented in this paper aims to develop multi-adaptive materials/structures and discusses the considerable role design research can play in this developing area of research. We present our pilot project, which aims to develop adaptive material samples for medical prosthetics applications. The project involved two main research activities, material prototyping and collaborative industry workshops. We focus on the workshop findings and present a framework for determining interrelationships between material properties, responses, user demands and implications as this is key to understanding how to develop transformative material systems and how to determine what constitutes as desirable material responses/associations. From this we then reflect on our research to date to open up key questions on the role design[ers] and design research[ers] play in maximising the potential of adaptive materials and aspirations within this field. Design Research; Processes and Innovation; Adaptive Materials; Sustainability; Collaborative Prototype Development Biological design and fabrication processes create structures capable of self-healing when damaged as well as adapting to consistently imposed design demands. As a result, material performance is improved, and structures become increasingly bespoke or time. Importantly, these adaptive abilities are made possible because material processes maintain a discourse with fluctuating design demands, resulting in interrelationships. Meaning, the design and fabrication processes are highly iterative and flexible because of how these processes can interact with a structure's material makeup. Conversely, artificial modes of design and manufacturing, which are typically linear in nature, do not leverage these highly desirable abilities because they treat materials as inert, no discourse is maintained post-fabrication between design parameters, and material properties and there is no framework or mechanism to enable interrelationships for a material-system to be developed. As a result,

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: EKSIG 2023
• Start Date: Jun 19, 2023
• End Date: Jun 20, 2023
• Acceptance Date: May 5, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Oct 6, 2023
• Publication Date: Oct 6, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 30, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 8, 2024
• Series Title: EKSIG Proceedings
• ISBN: 9788894167436
• Publisher URL: https://www.eksig2023.polimi.it/#proceedings