‘memorabilia factory kit’ by bold-design all images © bold-design

conceived by william boujon and julien benayoun of french studio bold-design, explores the measure of bacterial environments within sandy beaches. by utilizing sporosarcina pasteurii, a bacteria that naturally calcifies sand, the project demonstrates its phenomenum of biological calcification which is known for building ‘stromatolites’ around the coast lines of australia and new zealand.

with the discovery of soletanche-bachy and their biocalcis® process to use the sand in construction, an interpretation of combining nostalgia, science and technology becomes evident throughout the brief. as a result of the process, the team developed a kit for people to create their own personal moulded sand souvenirs. using landscapes as form language, users are then able to collect sand from around the world, and physically showcase their travels with the ‘memorabilia factory kit’.

memorabilia factory by bold design memorabilia factory kit with pilat dune souvenir 

memorabilia factory by bold design naturally coloured sand from all around the world

memorabilia factory by bold design three local souvenirs. durdle door from england / koh phi phi island from thailand / pilat dune from france 

memorabilia factory by bold design koh phi phi island close up 

memorabilia factory by bold design koh phi phi island engraved thanks to the tool 

memorabilia factory by bold design durdle door souvenir 

memorabilia factory by bold design instruction for use of the memorabilia factory kit 

memorabilia factory by bold design experiments of the biocalcis® process directly in the soletanche-bachy laboratory with julie mougeot, biologist 

memorabilia factory by bold design making of / the koh phi phi souvenir matrix / the pilat dune mould / the first calcifyed sand casting 

memorabilia factory by bold design sketches and research about the memorabilia factory – elise lalique

memorabilia factory by bold design calcium carbonate crystals on sand grains made by the bateria © SEM images – dr sabine castanier-perthuisot, université d’angers

project collaborators

annette esnaud-filet, project manager julie mougeot, biologist elise lalique, designer alexis diers, designer

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here