An Experimental Approach To The Evaluation Of Ortega Y Gasset’s Alchemist/Crafts[Person]/Technician In The Context Of Bioplastics

Simyacı/Zanaatkar/Teknisyen Ve Biyoplastik

Abstract

This article is on understanding the properties of bioplastics, one of the key elements of the circular economy that results from
ecological awareness. With their numerous benefits, bioplastics are currently not only one of the cutting-edge building materials in the circular economy but are also being used by many designers, artists, and architects as a means of artistic exploration, experimentation, or expression through alchemy. Bioplastics are materials made from biomass that are biodegradable or biocompatible and contain at least one biopolymer and a plasticizer. Compared to petroleum-based plastics, bioplastics offer many benefits, such as better resource usage, a shorter waste cycle, and lower carbon dioxide emissions. These novel materials are currently used by engineers and designers as a means of artistic experimentation. This article focuses on the perception, experience, and insightful aspects of starch-based bioplastics produced as handmade surfaces or three-dimensional materials in architecture realized within an interdisciplinary research process, covering the fields of civil engineering, chemistry, and architecture. In order to comprehend the nature of bioplastics, the research highlights
concerns about how designers acquire material experience through the undetermined nature and process of production. The
research is also built on experiencing and comprehending the paradoxical character of bioplastic, such as its biodegradable
qualities, strengths and its decaying nature in the environment in artistic projects. The work is examined in light of the formlessness caused by the haptic experience of the students’ handcrafted starch-based bioplastics. Based on Stevens’ starch-based bioplastic formula, these bioplastics were experimented with 30-40 architecture students in the Architectural Design I-II studio course at Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Architecture, during the 2016-2017 academic year. Besides, various experiments were also conducted in a workshop with 12 architecture and design students at MEF University in 2019. Both studios combined starch, vinegar, water, glycerin, and salt with agar agar, wood ash, tragacanth, sawdust, gum arabic, resin, sunflower oil, sea grass (Posidonia oceanica), coffee grounds, egg white, lemon juice, fruit waste, and other biopolymers or fibers. These mixes were cooked in various amounts and dried for 3-4 days in stainless steel, balsa, and cardboard molds, as well as on rubber and fabric surfaces, in an oven at 40-60 °C. The nature of bioplastics experimented with and produced by the students aims to discover new material in architecture within the context of the roles of the designer today, within the concepts of “alchemist, crafts[person], and technician” as interpreted by Jose Ortega y Gasset as the three stages of technology. In both studies, students interacted with the material during the creation process and made discoveries, particularly by assuming the roles of alchemist and craftsperson, resulting in haptic experiences in material design. In architecture education situations where digital design is becoming more common, knowledge of the source of materials and raw materials has grown. In this context, especially in a technological age where the production processes of building materials are only learned or taught through their representations rather than experiencing them with the designer’s direct material experience by haptic experience and the integration of this experience into design thinking methods from a technician’s perspective are today. The prevailing paradigm, which regards natural raw materials as limitless consumable and transformable resources, fosters the technician’s drive and desire to control nature. A propensity and approach to nature supporting human aspirations by changing them into activities and requirements such as generating, capturing, and inventing the new is required for such an approach, in which nature is the resource and technology is instrumental. On the other hand, such an approach provides autonomous and personalized material experiences in which the designer can experience the cause while controlling their own actions, which Karana et al. refer to as a “dynamic material experience.” This includes the ambiguity between technology and material experience, which produces different effects and results for different designers at different times and places. In architecture, perceiving and interacting with handmade materials gives designers crucial experiences in a variety of domains, ranging from space shaping to material origins. This technique can progress from a technician process in which the architect controls and oversees the materials in design to a process with a more holistic awareness and a focus on learning from material interaction. Therefore, the presence of the notions of alchemist and craftsperson in the studies demonstrates the positive effects of the designer’s haptic experience, which has evolved into Homo Faber in a technological age, on architecture and design education. Confronting the random spontaneity of substances or materials as an alchemist or craftsperson and observing and contributing to the metamorphosis of matter can be valuable experiences for both designers and aspiring designers. In a world where the designer has become a technician and their resources are becoming increasingly scarce, this approach can assist in establishing a more balanced production-consumption cycle.