Mycelium Grown Shoes
University project | 2019
What if… we could cultivate our footwear? In an attempt to address this speculative inquiry, this mycelium studies project is investigating a potential concept for futuristic shoe design. This exploration involves the development of a closed system that could enable eco-friendly and consumer-friendly shoe production. At the heart of this endeavor lies mycelium, a partnering species that synergizes with cutting-edge 3D printing technologies.
Experiment no. 1: Pigments or Nano Structures?
Guessing the colour source
The colours of objects depend on their surface. These can either be body colours or structural colours.
Body colours are based on pigments: this means the chemical composition influences which part of the light spectrum is absorbed and which is reflected. The reflected light results in the visible colour.
Structural colours are the result of the microscopic physical composition of the surface - the nano structures. These create interference and scattering of the incoming light in order to reproduce a visible color as.
Destroying the surface structure reveals the colour souced: pigments or nanostructures. Pigments retain their colouring even in powder form (see the flamingo feather) while structural colours disappear because the physical structure is no longer available to interfer with light (see the wings of the morpho butterfly).
Experiment no. 2: Body Colours & Light Colours
One puzzle - three images
Body colours - based on pigments - do not always appear the same. They are influenced by the light colour. Some parts of the light are absorbed, others reflected and thus results in the colour that is visible to us.
If the incoming light does not contain the complete spectrum only a small part of the body colour can be reflected. Looking at the same object under different spectra - such as red, green and blue - can reveal varying images because body colours are perceived different depending on the source light colour. In this way one puzzle can contain three different images made visible under the respective lamp.
