“Candy” Stools
Chava Vietze
gelatin, glycerin, citric acid, soy wax, agar, food coloring
2024


The name for the project “candy stools” came from my classmates seeing the vivid colors of the biofoam and plastic tiles as candy and wanting to eat them - sadly they surely wouldn’t be as tasty as they looked.



Contact: cvietze@pratt.edu

The focus of this project was to explore the conceptual design of high-quality and stylish chairs using biomaterials and other sustainable renewable or recycled materials. My exploration overlapped more than one theme including From Waste to Raw Material, Nature-Centered Design. I was curious if we might invest more time in developing renewable products that have longer lifespans? Why waste time making leggings out of plastic bottles when perhaps you can take plastic bottles and turn them into chairs? Or tables? Or bed frames? Or picture frames? All of which have the possibility of a long lifespan, far longer than any article of clothing. With my research and experiments, I tested recipes to create bioplastics and biofoam for home items such as furniture. This was an ambitious task and there are few designers who have successfully created bioplastic furniture. Texture, strength, size, and more were all difficult to predict along with resilience and strength long term. I am further interested in understanding truly sustainable and ethical materials and their use in the production of household items and furniture.