Ecolect's Petting Zoo

Ecolect takes part in conferences or gatherings with a focus on green design and represents themselves through an exhibit called the "eco-materials petting zoo." On the Ecolect website, they describe their mission as connecting designers, engineers, developers and business owners with the newest eco-conscience materials. At these conferences, a display is made with about 20 of the materials shown on the website alongside information about each material placed next to them. Because of the title "petting zoo," people were encouraged to touch and engage in interacting with these materials one-on-one.

Not having been to the conference to personally see the exhibit, I went online to see what kinds of materials might have been featured in person. The materials featured were mostly made from recycled products.

One example is Harmony Casting Grains, pictured above, which is made for casting jewelry and made from recycled melted down jewelry metals. I liked how accessible the information on each material was laid out on the site. It tells you first and foremost who to contact in order to get each material. Then, information is divided into the categories, summary, how is it used, how is it made and technical specifications.

Seeing the materials on the website made me want to see these materials in person and touch them. I remember the design process we learned back in freshman year based in hands-on experimentation and how fun it was to interact with new materials which I've never seen or heard of before. The process involved so much inquiry into the capabilities and properties of the materials. So much of what I discovered about a material would be difficult to quanitify on paper. Therefore, I think it is crucial for the people who will be purchasing and designing with these eco-conscious materials to be able to see them physically one-on-one.

And the idea of organising these materials in a "petting zoo" really connects back to the playfulness with which we experimented with new materials freshman year of RISD. I enjoy the idea of thinking about materials as different animals which we work with. Seeing and touching a material up close is much more informative than a picture and words. And I'm sure a display of materials in this manner makes a more lasting impact on the designers who participated. Great idea!