The New Material Award introduces the designs of the future. The biennial award challenges visual artists, designers and architects to use new materials and innovative techniques. The resulting designs will contribute to a better and more sustainable society.
The prize has two distinctions: the New Material Award with a cash prize of € 15,000 for a finished product, and the New Material Fellow, a fellowship at Het Nieuwe Instituut plus € 5.000, for a detailed idea to which a research question has been linked.
For her project Aera Fabrica, Roos Meerman uses heat and air to blow up 3D-printed forms. Because plastic can quickly change from a liquid to a solid, it is possible to make the form flexible by heating the plastic, then blowing it up and letting it cool down again until the shape sets. Meerman uses PLA, a 100% biodegradable material made from corn.
Thanks to the technique Meerman developed, the final stage of 3D printing is now the beginning of a new product. The balloons can be much larger than the original print, allowing her to use the 3D-printing technique much more efficiently. The way in which the form will be blown up can be programmed in advance.
Roos Meerman won the New Material Fellow 2014.
The New Material Award is an initiative of Fonds Kwadraat, Stichting DOEN and Het Nieuwe Instituut.