Lilian van Daal presents Radiolaria #1 – Fragments of Nature

Bio-inspired fragments of nature captured in a 1:1 soft seating concept

Lilian van Daal presents her newest biomimicry project: Radiolaria #1. Radiolaria #1 is a 1:1 scale model of a chair made out of a single material that incorporates all functionalities: flexibility, adaptability, firmness, and stability. With Radiolaria #1, Lilian van Daal continues her quest to improve, adjust and innovate the production of soft-seating by making use of nature’s laws. In this project design, nature and the newest technology come together to use energy and material in the most efficient way. This result is a chair constructed without glue out of a single material: recyclable polyamide (PA 12) provided by Oceanz 3D printing.

Inspiration from nature

What can nature and its smallest life-forms teach us? These small life-forms are the starting point of Lilian van Daal’s research. The micro organisms Radiolaria and Bryozoa form the main source of her inspiration. Radiolaria are unicellular organisms that are found as zooplankton throughout the ocean and take their name from the radial symmetry of their skeletal spines. The structure of Radiolaria amplified by 3D printing affords various levels of flexibility and comfort without using different types of foam like in common soft seating. Bryozoa are moss animals that live in tropical waters and freshwater environments. The lattice of connections within Bryozoa skeletons inspired van Daal to create a system of connection points for assembly of the chair without extra materials such as glue. In general, the leading principle in Radiolaria #1 is formed by symmetry which is also the main characteristic in all unicellular organisms.

“The intricate shapes of flowers. The mesh-networks of fungi. The perfect geometry of organisms. They have been crafted, remodeled and burnished during billions of years of biological trial and error. Implementing their unique and meticulous properties in design has been difficult, but recent technology has fueled possibilities for new development of products and systems.” – Lilian van Daal

http://lilianvandaal.com