sugar frames experimental food tech by giffin'termeer

‘sugar frames’ by giffin’termeer, on exhibition during tokyo designers week container exhibition 2011 image © designboom

studio giffin’termeer (jess griffin + jim termeer) has created a ‘sugar frames’ installation, shortlisted in a design competition hosted by DA japan architects association in association with food guide publishers ZAGAT (and promoted by designboom) for tokyo designers week container exhibition 2011. it is an investigation into the growth of products through biological processes and of the way we grow food. using sugar’s ability to crystallize itself onto a scaffold, the designers actually grow a series of consumer products, taking the basic form of a camera, watch, bracelet, and eyeglasses.

to create the works, an open plastic structure is placed into a sugar solution, where crystals begin to form around the minimal frames. over the course of the crystal’s growth, the object is intermittently taken and scanned with a 3D computer to create a digital model, which can then be used to create products with a 3D printer. each time, the item is then placed back into the sugar mixture to continue to grow, so that the designers in the end have a series of printable digital models that reflect a range of stages of the object’s creation. at any of these steps, the products can be finished, painted and scaled to different sizes to create new distinctive qualities out this natural formation process.

the beauty is watching each stage grow into different configurations, from the initial intricate frame to a thick and overgrown size. the final products exhibited at tokyo designers week are printed plastic frames scanned from the crystallized sugar pieces.

plastic eyeglass frames printed from the scan of a crystallized form in its early stages of growth

image © designboom

initial scaffolding for the camera object

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camera, after sugar crystallization

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back left: wristband in mid-stages of crystallization; front right: the initial wristband scaffolding frame

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final form of wristband

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exhibition view

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exhibition text, formed from the same plastic frames used as scaffolding for the crystal growth image © designboom

designers jess griffin + jim termeer image © designboom

user experience of frames

image © giffin’termeer

process diagram

image © giffin’termeer

possible sugar objects

image © giffin’termeer