Polytronic Kitchen Ware /
Hochschule für Gestaltung / 2006
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Smaller, simpler, more comfortable, but not less complex. The development of new materials with integrated functions enable new possibilities for product development. Plastics can be sensors, conduct electricity, give off light, heat up, react to specific stimuli. They can be processed in the form of foils and be laminated, folded or deep-drawn.

How do polytronic products work? What can they do? What do they look like? How can products be constructed and designed when they are based on polytronic components?

In the project course “Foil sandwich products” products were conceived, designed and developed that consisted of polymers which could be flexible, bendable, conductive, luminescent, or isolating, and which could transform energy into heat and light. These polymers are printed onto foils and can then be deep drawn to form 3D products or housings. In this manner printable circuits, bi-metals, solar cells, actors and sensors can be produced.

A good deal of abstraction was needed in order to bring together the technical requirements and possibilities (printed electronics) with the (graphic) design of household products. However, the project was a success in the end. The resulting models of folding toasters, flat irons from foil, or modular kitchen systems demonstrate the possibilities of polytronics for the development of future products.