Design studios Crafting Plastics and Office MMK have teamed up to develop a scent-infused 3D-printed room divider made from bioplastic that is currently on show at Salone del Mobile.
BreaZea is showing as part of The Makers Show at Salone del Mobile, which showcases work by designer-makers, and consists of modules in two different designs that can be combined however the user wants.
The room divider is 3D-printed from bioplastics
The organic-shaped room divider was 3D-printed using one of Crafting Plastics' Nuatan bioplastics, which are made from blends from the PLA and PHA biopolymer groups.
BreaZea was designed as part of a larger project to let people smell bioplastics, which are normally odourless.
"This whole project, Breathe In/Breathe Out, started in 2018," Crafting Plastics co-founder Vlasta Kubu?ová told Dezeen. "We were wondering, together with the German architect Moritz Maria Karl of Office MMK, how to bring a new identity to bioplastics, since normally you perceive these materials through their visuality and structure, not through their smell."
It has a sweet scent reminiscent of bread and maize
Wanting to create a scent for bioplastics that would make people associate it with something pleasant, similar to fresh wood, Crafting Plastics began thinking about what could be an appropriate smell for this new material.
The bioplastic used for BreaZea is made from cornstarch and sugar and when it's heated up, it has a "starchy, sweet, bakin...